Inspection reveals B.C. beaches a global garbage dump

For Lucas Harris, every piece of garbage that a small group of surfers collects on B.C.’s supposedly pristine beaches helps to paint a bigger picture on marine debris.The plastic bottles, fuel containers, buoys, fish nets, ropes and blocks of Styrofoam his group collects (more than one ton of garbage on a recent outing) all help to reveal patterns of waste in the mass of detritus washing ashore daily on Canada’s coastlines.“If we go back … next year and the year after and analyze the same sample site, we are able to detect trends. We can see growth in debris levels, changes in debris types and have a better understanding of … the changes and composition of debris over time,” said Mr. Harris, a spokesman for the Victoria chapter of the international Surfrider Foundation.Read more here »