This led us to consider shredding or crushing our beach plastic to reduce the volume and increase the weight, making the journey to the recycler more cost effective. We considered buying a used plastic granulator or shredder from the United States, but the machines we found were either cost prohibitive or they ran 3 phase power which is unavailable on the beach.

The “Do it Yourself” culture here in Mexico inspired us to try and build a simple, low cost plastic shredder with the help of a machine shop. The goal being that if the transportation issue could be overcome, then maybe recycling plastic could become a viable source of income for people. With a seemingly inexhaustible supply both from the ocean and produced from everyday life, we were hoping to give value to something that is now brought to the dump to be burned.

We had another idea in mind when building a shredder, inspired by other organizations who use plastic bottles as building materials. Eco-Tec, for example, uses 2 liter soda or water bottles and fills them with sand or dirt and treats them like concrete blocks. They then mortar them together between two columns to build a wall, finally finishing them with plaster so you can’t tell there are plastic bottles underneath. Our approach is different in that we fill the bottles with shredded plastic, greatly increasing the amount of material we could get off the beach and put into a wall. We also make use of unrecyclable plastic such as drinking straws, plastic bags, and plastic forks by using at as shredded fill.

Punata Herradura 16 km south of Mahaual

Our first beach clean-up is a beach South of Mahaual. We like to clean Punta Herradura. It is one of our favorite beaches along this coast. The reef opens up here, so you get more waves than other beaches along the reef. You also get more garbage. If it were clean of garbage, it would be one of the more beautiful beaches in Quintana Roo.
On our first few days beach cleaning, we came across the usual assortment of plastic bottles of various shapes and sizes, but we also came across some medical waste. Not so untypical. Just a reminder of how reckless our ocean dumping is, and how dangerous enjoying a day at the beach is.

Medical Waste found in Punta Herradura

Why we came

Here we are in Mahahual Mexico.  We came here as scuba divers.  Thrilled to explore the Meso American reef or better known as The Great Mayan Reef, the second largest reef system outside of the great barrier reef in Australia.  And it is amazing. This beautiful fishing village is located in the southern part of the state of Quintana Roo. The people are warm and welcoming.  The population is small, but there is quite a large international community that came to find peace and tranquility in nature and by this unique and beautiful environment.

Why we are staying

Garbage.  This eco-system is being attacked by waste.  Every kind of garbage you can think of, but mostly plastic.  So much waste that is washing up on the beaches everyday.  We have been told that the currents flush the waste in the ocean to this part of the world.   As we have started the clean-up process, we do find garbage from all over latin america and the Caribbean here.  We have also seen waste from China and the North America.

We are organizing a beach and reef cleanup in and around Mahahual, Quintana Roo, Mexico. The problem is evident and the beaches are a starting point for us because here it is impossible to ignore; the surface of the beach appears to be fifty percent sand and vegetation and fifty percent water bottles and worse; disintegrating plastic pieces becoming a permanent part of the sand and shore, entering into the food chain, leaching into the water and ruining the landscape.

Our goal is to address the obvious issue first, then work our way backwards from what the ocean is throwing up every day, to determining and documenting where it comes from, and how it finds its way into the water so consistently. So the most apparent course of action is to clean up the beach and find an environmentally sound way to dispose of the trash. Some of this is straightforward; we have the advantage of seeing the same kinds of trash arriving regularly with the tide, making it easier to anticipate and deal with.

Recyclable plastic is being sorted on the beach into categories that the local recycling stations can process. We have contacted the closest station, located in Chetumal, Q.Roo, and met with Ricardo, who runs the operation.  We have an evolving agreement to gather and sort, and he will make the one and a half hour drive   to come and collect when we have enough to make the trip worthwhile.  These bottles and a lot of the other flotsam have a minimal cash value, and we hope that this can offset at least some of the cost of hiring the labor needed to comb the endless expanses of beach affected.  That is our vision; to be able to hire and sustain a force of local laborer who will routinely maintain the health of the beach. Straightforward, but a massive undertaking. We are working on a 1,100 ft (365 meters or so) stretch, and with the help of some local talent, Miguel and Pedro, we have met our quota in the past two days for Ricardo to come and collect, and the beach is far from pristine; the culprits being the small shards and bottle caps hard to extract by hand. of course as our support grows, we will be able to increase the area covered and hire some more hands

JAMAICA

CHINA

HONDURAS

ARKANSAS,USA

MALAYSIA

MALAYSIA

NEW YORK, USA

ARGENTINA

Viet Nam

CLEANED!

Miguel and Juan after another day kicking ass

Pinche Bolsas De Plastico/ F*cking Plastic Bags…Or 1 swimmer, 1 day, too many plastic bags in the ocean to count. An Ice Cold Beer waiting (Bien Fria)..

In 2008, it was a dead sperm whale near Point Reyes, California. Its stomach contents? An astonishing 450 pounds of fishing net, some kind of mesh, braided rope, plastic bags and one plastic comb.

In 2006, scientists reviewed 371 sea turtle necropsies (an autopsy of an animal) since 1968 and discovered that one-third of the turtles had likely died from eating plastic.

Miguel y Santos

MARISOL is Meso American Reef Initiative Save Ocean Life

Ubicado en el Sistema Arrecifal Mesoamericano, MARISOL esta creando programas de reciclaje a largo plazo en las comunidades para limpiar el ocèano y las playas que forman parte del Sistema Arrecifal màs largo del Hemisferio Norte. Como organizaciòn sin ànimo de lucro, MARISOL busca apoyo a traves de donaciones y fondos para ayudar a llevar a cabo el proyecto. A diario toneladas de basura bombardean el fràgil ecosistema, amenazando la vida del ocèano y matando el arrecife. El Sistema Arrecifal Mesoamericano es hogar de màs de 1000 especies marinas incluyendo tortugas marinas, tiburones ballena, manatìes y màs de 60 especies de coral. Como buceadores y activistas sensibles al problema nos sentimos obligados a cuidar y proteger esta joya internacional, y ayudar a las comunidades locales a limpiar sus playas. Esta pàgina web ofrece actualizaciones regularmente de nuestros progresos en las comunidades, los residuos recogidos y el impacto que nuestros esfuerzos tengan en salvar la vida del oceano.

MARISOL es Meso American Reef Initiative Save Ocean Life