Use of Pulverized Recycled Glass for Beach Nourishment: A Review – Georgia Coastal Research Council (GCRC)

Glass Powder (by Hideya Hamano CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 via Flickr).

This paper reviews geotechnical, biological, and abiotic analyses conducted on the experimental placement of recycled glass on beaches in Florida. It will also describe the experiences local governments have had when considering the use of recycled glass as an alternative material for beach nourishment.

Coastal erosion caused by increased extreme weather events and sea level rise is escalating the rate and extent to which beaches are washing away. Traditionally, inland and offshore sand and dredged material from rivers, canals, and the ocean have been used to nourish beaches, but these resources are becoming increasingly expensive and difficult to obtain…

How A Used Bottle Becomes A New Bottle – NPR Planet Money

Care for a drink? (by Vincent VR CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 via Flickr).

The rise of curbside recycling programs over the past few decades has meant more glass recycling. But for a long time, many recycling centers didn’t have the technology to turn recycled glass into the raw material for new bottles. Instead, recycled glass often wound up being used as a cheap construction material, or even to cover landfills.

Now, with new technology that can better sort glass collected in curbside recycling, more used glass bottles can be turned back into new glass bottles. To see how this works, we went to a glass recycling facility and a bottle factory…

Outside a recycling plant in Jersey City, N.J., there are piles and piles of what looks like garbage.

But it’s actually broken glass…

Can recycled glass help restore Louisiana’s eroding coastline? – the Guardian

Glass trash at the local recycle (by Chuckcars CC BY-SA 2.0 via Flickr).

Dave Clements, owner of Snake and Jake’s Christmas Club Lounge, a beloved dive bar in New Orleans, has watched Louisiana’s coast shrink year after year.

“I used to go fishing quite a bit down in Delacroix area. Me and my buddy would go out in a flat boat,” he says. Clements remembers finding “a little spot, a little island” where he and his friend would take breaks while fishing for redfish, sheepshead, speckled trout and flounder. When they went back to the same spot a month later, the patch of land was gone. “I actually stopped fishing because it was so depressing..”

Restoring Louisiana’s Shoreline, One Glass Bottle at a Time – GIZMODO

Recycling (by RubyT via CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Flickr).

Glass Half Full is redirecting glass from landfills and turning it into much-needed sand.

Louisiana’s shoreline is rapidly eroding due to sea level rise and extreme weather fueled by climate change. But a scrappy New Orleans glass recycling initiative, Glass Half Full, is rounding up as many of the city’s glass bottles as possible to create sand for coastal restoration.

The team, a winner of the 2023 Gizmodo Science Fair, got started in 2020…

How Will Creatures That Can Barely Move Handle Climate Change? – Hakai Magazine

Ochre Sea Star (by wild trees CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 via Flickr).

As the world warms, animals living near the coast are being battered by stronger storms, rising seas, and extreme temperatures. While fish, birds, and other species might be able to escape—often toward the poles—many marine creatures can barely move, let alone speed out of the way.

Scientists have long known that on hot days more mobile shoreline creatures like crabs take steps to control their body temperature by scuttling into cool crevices…

Here’s why a California beach town just banned balloons – the Grist

The Blue Balloon (by Simon James CC BY-SA 2.0 via Flickr)

Celebrations in a beachside California city will soon have to take place without an iconic, single-use party favor: balloons.

The city council of Laguna Beach, about 50 miles southeast of Los Angeles, banned the sale and use of all types of balloons on Tuesday, citing their contribution to ocean litter as well as risks from potential fires when they hit power lines…

Private yacht runs aground, leaks fuel over Hawaii marine sanctuary – SF Gate

Honolua Bay (by Kirt Edblom CC BY-SA 2.0 via Flickr).

A 94-foot luxury yacht grounded near a marine sanctuary in Hawaii on Monday, leaking fuel into the ocean, the Department of Land and Natural Resources said…
“I am devastated that it happened,” Maui resident Kaila Tiri told SFGATE. “[Honolua Bay] was a marine sanctuary that was protected for over a decade and a spot on Maui that everyone loved and adored deeply…”

Why are Tunisia’s beaches disappearing and what does it mean for the country? – Reuters

Fishing Boats in the Old Hammamat - Tunisia (by Ghassan Tabet CC BY-NC 2.0 via Flickr).

Rising sea levels are causing Tunisia’s beaches to gradually disappear. This is making life hard for the country’s tourism and fishing industries.

The Maghreb – made up of Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and Libya – is more affected by coastal erosion than any region outside South Asia, the World Bank found in a 2021 study. Among these countries, Tunisia has had the highest erosion rates in the last three decades, averaging almost 70cm a year, it found…