The beach where Lego keeps washing up

Sound mix by Graham Haerther

(you can find contact details and social links there too)

[TomScottGo]

If you were expecting a fun story about occasional Lego finds, and instead got a horrifying story about waste plastic... so was I. Tracey's photography project and book are some of the best ecological messaging I've seen in a long time! There are links in the description.

[stephenwilliams]

Watched a film several years ago, but I can't remember what it was called. It opened with shots of a beach completely covered in trash while the narrator said, "This is Away. When you throw something away, this is where it goes."

That's always stuck with me.

[itaybron]

It's insane to think plastic has only been around for around 100 years yet you can find it everywhere, not to mention microplastics inside marine life.

[JDsVarietyChannel]

Right when you think you can go on vacation without stepping on a lego.
*NO ONE IS SAFE*

[randomaccount]

"it's sad" those were the two words my friends said when they saw just how much plastic i had picked up from one of the beaches in long beach california after we had just spend 5 hours there. The fact that anyone can find more pieces of plastic than shells is honestly heartbreaking, and now matter how hard we try there will always be more of it under the sand and in the water. I hope that more and more people realize and understand that everything they do leaves and impact, whether it be good or bad and that we can clean these beaches up for our future generations.

[dvk]

This hits harder because Tom isn’t the type to use a grim reality to make himself popular. This really touched him enough to make it a story worth telling

[punkstr]

It's sort of become an informal series where Tom goes to film some place and returns to us with unmet expectations and an implied, existential warning.

[miniaturetiger]

As someone who lives in Cornwall, it's good to see our plastic problem getting some attention

[notsoberoveranalyzer]

I really commend this women for not going on camera. Also for Tom for not pressuring her to do so.
I’ve generally not liked being on camera, but with the SMS boom, I’ve forced myself to learn to be more comfortable with it.

It’s just nice to see others who are similar, and more so that someone is accommodating.

[dgro]

"the beach where lego keeps washing up. Except its not just lego, and its not just this beach" nice

[twokegs]

I went from childlike wonder to a sense of impending doom in under two minutes

[saml]

Massive respect and thanks to this lady who spends her time cleaning up the beaches. 🙏🏻👏🏻

[AverytheCubanAmerican]

Yup, the plastics in our oceans are very much still a problem. It doesn't just solve itself. Reminds me of the Laysan albatross. Their range is across the North Pacific, but over 99 percent of them can be found on the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, most notably the famous Midway Atoll. They've had to face lead-poisoning (from paint chips from the structures; this has thankfully been stopped and cleaned up after a decade-long effort) and plastics. Five tons of plastic are brought by the birds each year to feed their young...and you can just see all the plastic they ate poking out when they're dead

[tonyweavers]

As if this were not bad enough, people who visit the beaches often just dump their cans and waste when they leave. It's all heartbreaking.

[Sanmibor]

Here in France, we have a beach where Garfield phones keep washing up.
(Yes, plastic phones with the face of the comic cat Garfield)
Quite horrifying also

[KnowingBetter]

I'm starting to notice just how much plastic I end up using just from groceries. Everything is in a plastic container or plastic bag. It's crazy how plastic has just taken over everything.

[umbaupause]

There was this german youtube series where seven people go and spend a week isolated on some patch of nature with a limited set of survival items, and the second season featured San José, an island in Panama. Half of that show became about how it's kinda silly to have a survival production where so many plastic things washed up onto the island take care of many needs in terms of items. But many were also disappointed to see just how much plastic garbage was just there in general.

[clockworkkirlia]

That pebble is astounding. If I understand correctly, it's not a plastic pebble in the sense of a plastic ornament; it's a pebble formed by natural processes out of plastic. That's how present plastic has become.

[joec]

“ it’s not that bad today “

....my heart sank

[LouDiamondPhilips]

I love that you referred to her not appearing on camera as sensible