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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 10, 2017)
7A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2017 Microplastics: ‘We want this affordable and accessible’ Continued from Page 1A to consistently raise money, as well as awareness about the issue. “Rather than going to a landfi ll, we wanted to turn (the plastic) into a vehicle for con- versation,” Rice said. “When visitors come , it’s not only an opportunity for environmental education, but a positive, tan- gible reminder that you can make a difference.” Haystack ‘really bad’ The presence of micro- plastics on beaches around the world has been steadily increasing for the past six years, said Marc Ward, the director of the environmen- tal non profi t Sea Turtles Forever. Ward, who often leads beach cleanup efforts in Can- non Beach, has been research- ing marine plastics for more than 20 years. In that time he started to see the prevalence of the material in the digestive tracts of sea turtles. But he didn’t realize the severity until he returned to the coast from a research trip six years ago to fi nd the beaches he loves — like Oswald West and Crescent Beach — cov- ered in the tiny plastics . “I’ve been on the beach all my life. I was a surfer — I know every beach in this state. I also know we never had microplastics before,” he said. “I take my kids to the beach, and when I saw my baby with microplastic in his mouth I Pooka Rice holds up a tray of pieces of plastic and oth- er materials removed from area beaches that are used in making her line of jewelry. Photos by Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian The finished products from the line of jewelry include pieces of plastic removed from local beaches embedded within earrings, bracelets and other decorative adornments. knew something had to be done about this.” Since then, Ward has facili- tated countless surveys, devel- oped a microplastic screening system and organized more than 100 beach cleanup events up and down the West Coast. Microplastics are detrimen- tal to beaches because of the toxins they accumulate. “You get a bottle. It’s dropped in the ocean. The UV light from the sun breaks it down and makes it brittle. Then it breaks up into small pieces,” Ward said. “It never biodegrades, they just get smaller and smaller. It’s then when they absorb these chem- icals — which are often car- cinogenic — through bro- ken edges and surfaces and keep concentrating them. Left alone, you could have a con- taminated beach.” The mile in front of Hay- stack Rock is “really, really bad,” Ward said, where he has consistently surveyed more than 100 grams of micro- plastics per square meter. Some beaches, like Crescent Beach at Ecola State Park, had the amount of microplas- tics quadruple in three years of surveying. Generally, he said it’s dan- gerous to not clean out any section of sand more than 50 grams per square meter. How the currents work and the geography of the North Coast are partly to blame for why the volume is dense, Ward said. This issue affects every part of the food chain, where almost a million seabirds and 66 per- cent of marine life are ingest- ing microplastics , according to NOAA statistics. But people can also ingest it by building a fi re on the beach and inhal- ing chemicals from the burn- ing plastics. Disposing of and creat- ing less plastic is ultimately needed to eliminate these issues, but volunteering at beach clean up events to screen plastics out of the sand is a big way to start, Ward said. “Sometimes it feels like a hopeless situation. I’ve worked with thousands of peo- ple in Clatsop County and Til- lamook County to clean these beaches, and they all leave with a great feeling of accom- plishment,” Ward said. “They see we can actually do some- thing about it.” Becoming sustainable Even with 100 pieces of jewelry made, the team has hardly made a dent in those 240 pounds of microplastics collected . But in this case, that might be good — interest in buying the pieces has sur- passed Rice’s expectations. “We’re trying to make this sustainable. We’ll need more volunteer involvement to keep up with the demand,” she said. A website is set to launch next week offering pieces for sale, and people should expect seeing these creations around the county at local stores priced between $8 and $35, program coordinator Melissa Keyser said. The goal is a steady form of revenue to make the pro- gram as independently sus- tainable as possible. The team also hopes to partner with the Cannon Beach Arts Asso- ciation to hold more ecolo- gy-based art classes, as well as support more environmental education . “We want this affordable and accessible, because we want to start larger conversa- tions about sustainable con- sumption and practice with everyone,” Keyser said. Doughboy: The bronze monument was last refurbished in 1991 Continued from Page 1A were damaged by the wreck, so they’ll need to be recon- structed. We still need to have an analysis of the connection of the bronze monument to the base.” The city had already received a $12,625 Veterans and War Memorials Grant from the State Historic Pres- ervation Offi ce to pay for improvements to the west- ern side of the statue, includ- ing the western bathroom — undamaged by the crash but closed for years and in need of restoration. Utility work will be done by contractors. Clatsop Com- munity College’s Historic Preservation and Restoration program will document con- ditions of the monument and restore the plaster on the west side of the base starting this winter, said instructor Lucien Swerdloff. “We’re also going to refur- bish the fl agpole,” he said. “That has rust, and the con- nections to the ground need to be redone.” The crash damage has already pushed back the grant-funded work, some of which will be delayed until spring, Cosby said, but the city hopes to fi nish the resto- ration within a year. Astoria’s Doughboy Mon- ument is one of many around the country undergoing repairs in advance of the cen- tennial of the end of World War I. A monument in Ray- mond, Washington, is one of 50 so far to receive a match- ing grant for restoration from the World War I Centennial Commission’s 100 Cities/100 Memorials program. Astoria’s monument was entered into the National American Legion The American Legion’s Clatsop Post 12 hopes to install a new monument in front of the Doughboy Monument in Uniontown listing the names of 34 Clatsop County soldiers lost in World War I, along with the poem “In Flanders Fields” by John McCrae. Register of Historic Places in 1984, including the fi rst pub- lic bathrooms added to the list. The bronze doughboy was last refurbished in 1991 using crushed walnut shells and hot wax. It is not part of the new project. Mike Phillips, president of the American Legion’s Clat- sop Post 12, said the group hopes by next summer to install a new concrete mon- ument near the Doughboy listing the names of the 34 c ounty soldiers lost in the war, along with the poem “In Flanders Fields,” by John McCrae. The proposed monument will have to go through the city’s Parks Advisory Board and ultimately be decided by the City Council, Cosby said. The monument would be about 3 to 4 feet wide and 3 feet high and also have the Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian The Doughboy Monument in Uniontown, dedicated in 1926 to locals lost in World War I and struck by a truck in August, will be repaired through a combination of state historic preservation grants and insurance money. The bronze doughboy atop the Astoria Victory Monument in Uniontown, dedicated in 1926 to locals lost in World War I, is called Over the Top at Cantigny in honor of the first major American offensive in World War I. names of those who served on the other side, Phillips said. He hopes it will com- plete the Doughboy Monu- ment and help remind peo- ple of those who served in even realize that they have family members that made the ultimate sacrifi ce,” Phil- lips said. “I think it’s only right to memorialize our vet- erans and their families.” World War I. Frank Buckles, who died at 110 in 2011 in West Vir- ginia, was the last surviving U.S. World War I veteran. “A lot of people don’t Discover Scandinavian Design 30 NOV. 10-13 th Birthday GIVE IN THE BEST WAY POSSIBLE Our gift planning team can help you ou support the missions of OHSU or Doernbecher Children’s Hospital with many y kinds of gifts – wills, trusts, real estate, personal property, stocks or other assets. 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