United States | One drive down the A1A highway in Fort Lauderdale, Florida reveals an abundance of exactly what one would expect; condominiums, hotels, shops, nightclubs, seafood restaurants, palm trees and tanned, beautiful women in bikinis. What there isn’t so much of anymore, apparently, are beaches. However, thanks to South Florida’s beer and soda drinkers - and mankind’s thirst for fun in the sun - that could be changing.
Ft. Lauderdale, and Broward County in general, are suffering from the problem of beach erosion, as are many waterfront communities around the world. The 24 miles that make up the beaches of Broward County are considered “critically eroded”, with nearly 25% of Florida’s entire coastline likewise endangered. That’s nearly 500 miles of coastline that soon might not be able to accommodate the natural treasures strolling the beaches in T-bar swimsuits.
One possible solution to this problem, where dredging is no longer an option, is using recycled glass mixed with sand to supplement that shortfall. Ironically, the idea sprung from the results of dumping garbage off the coast of Fort Bragg, California in 1949.
According to marine geologist Charles Finkl of Coastal Planning and Engineering in Boca Raton, Fla., tonnes of garbage were dumped into the ocean that included large amounts of glass. Whilst organic materials rotted away, the glass broke and was tossed about in the current and became smooth. This same process was also observed at a dumpsite in Hawaii.
Does the prospect of sunbathing on ground glass sound unappealing? It’s bad enough that whilst frolicking about on a favourite beach, sand creeps into places that we would rather it not be. But, according to Finkl, there is no danger in having a few granules of recycled, crushed glass tickling one’s posterior.
"You talk about glass beach and people have images of sharp glass shards but it's not that way at all," he said in an interview with Associated Press.
It is good that glass mixed with sand does not have to mean paying a painful price to our bodies. But the same cannot be said for the price in dollars absent this potential solution.
80 million US dollars a year is spent to restore Florida’s beaches. Moreover, with their value to the local economy measuring at 1 billion a year to Broward County alone, the prospect of losing the beaches (or the bikinis) is unthinkable.
Since 1970, 13 million tonnes of sand have been delivered to Florida’s beaches. Because the areas from which the sand is dredged are moving further off shore, the monetary cost for obtaining it is rising.
For example, in 1991, 1.3 million tonnes of sand were brought in at a cost of 9 million dollars. In 2005, the cost for double that amount was 45 million dollars. And there are environmental concerns about reefs and the marine life they support as well.
Recycled glass won’t provide all that is needed to save Florida’s beaches. Broward’s Recycling Manager, Phil Bresee said in the same AP report that, “The county would create only 15,600 tons of the glass material each year, not enough to solve its sand shortage, but enough to create a reserve for filling eroded spots before they can worsen”.
He went on to add that, “The County will be the first in the nation to combine the disposal of recycled glass with bolstering beach and sand reserves”.
So – to all of South Florida’s beer drinkers, soda guzzlers, and beauties in bikinis, and in the spirit of saving Florida’s beaches and other natural wonders, we offer this familiar toast:
Bottoms up!
Acknowledgement
Photo courtesy Broward County environmental protection department
