Sea Glass Supply Running Low?


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Sea Glass Supply Running Low?

by Michael
(Lavallette, NJ- New Jersey Shore)

With the use of plastic, is the SEA GLASS stash running out?

AND

How long does it take for glass to become sea glass?

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Hi Michael, these are questions a lot of people wonder about.

Aging of Sea Glass:

The question on aging is dependent on several factors. Mainly, lots of waves and a rocky rather than sandy beach will produce tumbled, rounded, frosted beach glass quickly, perhaps in as short as a year, although I have never seen studies on this.

When there is a lack of waves and rocks or pebbles, on the other hand, it will take much longer if ever for glass to become "sea glass."

Detailed info on this is found on the page Finding a Good Sea Glass Beach

How long does it take for a shard to become sea or beach glass?

A brief look at some of the factors affecting the supply of sea glass will show that the answer is really pretty complex.

First - The world population is huge compared to what it was just 100 years ago and is producing a lot of trash. Much of that trash is plastic but there is still a large quantity of glass being thrown out, probably more than ever.

Second - In advanced countries, restrictions on dumping have reduced the amount of trash going into the water but have not eliminated it.

For one thing, each year erosion on all coasts causes bluffs and cliffs to crumble and fall into the ocean. Any old dumps that were once on top of those cliffs years ago now are falling into the ocean.

Third - There is less "good" sea glass because much of the glass that ends up in the water now is clear, brown, or green.

Fourth - The known good sea glass beaches in the US are becoming depleted because those old dump sites are well known and well picked over.

Fifth - On the other hand, there are likely a lot of old dump sites that haven't been found or worked over yet (see the comment this week on Ediz Hook and Port Angeles, for example).

Sixth - In third world countries nobody looks for sea glass and more trash than ever is going into the beach area.

So, as you can see, the answer is complex. Some factors increase the glass, others decrease it.

I would say that in populated areas of the USA and some other "advanced" countries sea glass is harder to find now.

But in less visited areas of the US, Canada, UK, etc, and overall worldwide there are so many beaches that have not been touched that I would guess the amount of glass that still remains is probably 1,000 times as great as what has been found....but you have to go farther to find it.

David (Editor and Assistant Coffee Taster, Odyssey Sea Glass)

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