Coastal CITO Challenge II

To travel around coastal areas and, if you wish, challenge you into some CITO (Cache In, Trash Out) activity.

Have you ever enjoyed wandering on a seashore and looking for treasures that the sea has brought? Beautiful shells, stones smoothed by the waves, interesting pieces of driftwood? Or things of human origin: colourful pieces of glass and ceramics... and all too often, loads of plastic. Pen caps, lighters, toothbrushes, bottle caps, pieces of toys and food packaging.

Plastic garbage in the oceans causes huge damage to marine ecosystems. Birds and mammals get entangled or suffocated in plastic bags and other objects. Over time, plastic disintegrates into smaller and smaller pieces until the particles are so small that they are invisible to the eye. Cosmetics and synthetic textiles are other large sources of microplastics in the oceans. This microplastics pollutes the food chain, harming marine wildlife and eventually ending up to our own plates. By 2050 there may be more plastic than fish in the oceans!

While the plastic pollution is a huge problem that needs to be solved (and fortunately there are attempts to do so), I find it also fascinating to observe trash on seashores. What kind of objects are there? Were they part of a bigger object? Where have they come from? To whom did they belong? How and when did they end up into the sea?

The travel bug is accompanied with some objects collected on the shores of Split, Croatia, in 2019. It is also accompanied with two challenges. Should you wish to accept one or both of them, act as follows:

Challenge 1. Go to a seashore and take a picture of the TB with the most curious object you can find. Post the picture here with your log.

Challenge 2. Pick up trash from a beach or shore. If you are not close to the sea, any natural area will do. Post a photo of your accomplishment here. If you pick up enough trash to fill at least one plastic bag (~20–30 l), send your address to the owner of the TB. You will get a postcard from Finland as a reward. :)