How did it get there?

1. How did it get there?#

Today, we’re looking at how plastics, an essential part of modern life, ends up on the beach of Lake Geneva.

In december 2022 the Association for the Safeguard of Lake Geneva (ASL) completed a year-long project of identifying and quantifying trash on the beaches of Lake Geneva Pla’stock. This project was the latest in a series of initiatives that have been ongoing since 2015. These reports provide information about the quantity and type of objects found. However, they do not provide information about how the objects got to the beach.

Todays schedule:

  1. Introduction

  2. Discussion of what we expect to find

  3. Field experience: identify and count

  4. Return to lab - tabulate results

  5. Discussion of results

1.1. Most common items#

Among the most common items found on the lakes beaches in 2022 are the usual suspects: cigarette butts (11% of the total), plastic bottle caps, (4% of the total) and snack wrappers (8% of the total). We find also objects that are not associated with activities at the beach. For example, fragmented plastics (41% of the total) industrial plastic pellets (6% of the total), cotton swabs (4% of the total) plastic construction materials (3% of the total) and shotgun cartridges (1% of the total).

All the previous items mentioned are found in similar proportions in the marine environment in the european space, EEA data viewer. The federal report of 2021, IQAASL, included medical containers, straws and stirrers and toys as common objects on the beaches of lake Geneva.

1.2. First encounters#

Objective : in the field identify and count specific beach litter items.

Survey locations:

1.2.1. Items of interest#

The guide for monitoring beach litter, MLW Guide, lists 200 items that can be found on the beach. The OSPAR commission has a similar list of 150 items OSPAR. Today we are going to focus on identifying and counting 7 items:

  1. Plastic medical containers

  2. Cotton swabs

  3. Shotgun cartridges / wadding

  4. Construction plastics

  5. Industrial pellets

  6. Media filters / biomass holders

  7. Straws and stirrers

All other objects will be collected and discarded. Each item on the list has a distinct use or origin.

1.2.2. Tabulate results#

Record the number of each item found and the name of the beach where it was found. Reflections:

  1. Did you find more or less than you expected?

  2. How do the results compare to the federal report of 2021?

  3. Were there items that were found on one beach and not another?

1.2.3. Discussion#

  1. Did you notice any immediate sources of the items found? If so were their any visible signs of prevention measures?

  2. If the source is not apparent, what are the possible sources?

  3. What are the possible pathways for the object to reach the beach?

  4. What are the possible prevention measures?

1.3. Results#

Legend : The cumulative results are the total number found on visits to the two beaches since 2016 up to the day before of the excercise.

object

cumulative

found sep 26

Biomass holder

14

2

Cotton bud/swab sticks

368

8

Industrial pellets (nurdles)

22

9

Medical; containers/tubes/ packaging

133

7

Plastic construction waste

110

15

Sanitary pads /panty liners/tampons and applicators

31

2

Shotgun cartridges

23

0

Straws and stirrers

29

2

1.3.1. Probability of finding an amount#

Legend : The historical probabilities (prior to field excercise) of finding a given quantity at the beaches surveyed (results combined):

object

at least 1

at least 2

at least 3

at least 4

at least 10

Biomass holder

0.5

0.38

0.38

0

0

Cotton bud/swab sticks

0.88

0.88

0.88

0.88

0.88

Industrial pellets (nurdles)

0.25

0.25

0.25

0.25

0.12

Medical; containers/tubes/ packaging

0.88

0.88

0.75

0.75

0.62

Plastic construction waste

0.86

0.86

0.86

0.71

0.43

Sanitary pads /panty liners/tampons and applicators

0.62

0.5

0.5

0.38

0

Shotgun cartridges

0.75

0.38

0.38

0.25

0

Straws and stirrers

0.62

0.5

0.5

0.38

0.12

1.4. Semester project: pathways#

You can choose to make your video project on the potential pathways to the beach of a specific item. Your video project should also include a video short (think tiktok or google shorts) that can be shared on social media and give a brief overview of the problem and potential solutions.

1.4.1. Resources for the video project#

Interested in the topic? I am at your disposal for any questions on the topic: Here are some resources to get you started:

General information:

  1. clean up: The ocean cleanup

  2. surfrider: Surfrider

  3. surfers against sewage: SAS

  4. collected data EU: EEA data viewer

  5. eu guide to monitoring: MLW Guide

  6. ospar guide to monitoring: OSPAR

  7. latest report Lake Geneva: Pla’stock

  8. eu guide to sources: Identifying sources of marine litter

  9. effects of urban development: land use

  10. contact roger@hammerdirt.ch for specific resources on a topic

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