Stop Florida from using Glass to Replace Sand on the Beaches!

  • by: Josh Martin
  • recipient: Broward County Mayor and County Commissioner

imagine, you are on vacation, laying in the sand, the wind blows some sand into your eyes.  Your instant reaction is to rub your eyes to get it out.  Then you feel a sharp pain, you look down at your hands thru blurred vision, and you see blood.   Your eyes are bleeding, the glass has got into your tear ducts, and is damgaging your flesh, and your eye tissue.

Why would we put glass on the beaches to replace eroding sand, due to rising oceans?   Dredging sand onto the beach has always been the answer, and now they are looking for alternatives to save them money.   

The human impact glass could have is obvious.  Nobody wants to go home from the beach with tiny pieces of glass in their eyes, ears, and other parts of their body.  Glass is not sand, once it has been cooked and heated, it is much more rigid and sharp then sand.

The impact to wildlife would be catastrophic.  Many ocean species use sand for digestion, nest building, and tunnel building.   Glass would cause internal damgage to animals that digest it, and they would find it impossible to build their homes and tunnels in glass because the glass would cave in and fill their holes due to it's flat and smooth sides leading to the sharp edges.

Now even worse, is this glass cant even be contained to one area.  Every time there is a tropical storm, the glass will be spread to other parts of the ocean.  Once it reaches other parts of the ocean, the damage could never be reversed.  The nearby Florida Keys are a sensitive reef system that is a protected wildlife refuge for sea life.  Once the glass moves into the corals, and the homes of sand animals, the damage will be done.

Spread the word, and tell the governments of Florida and Broward County that if they use glass to replace sand on the beaches, you won't vacation in Florida ever again.   

Dear Broward County Officials, 
we the undersigned hereby ask you to not start the project involving replacing sand with glass.  We understand how difficult it is having to replace sand as ocean levels rise, but using non-native materials will only cause more problems than it solves.  Small pieces of glass in peoples eyes and ears will only lead to lawsuits, and cost you more than you are saving.  The longterm impact to the structural strength of the sand, and it's ability to coexist with wildlife that live in the sand is unknown, and unpredictable.  Please refrain from using glass on our beaches.  Thank You. 

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