Discarded glass typically doesn\u2019t serve to stabilize a coastline. Yet in June 2023, along the northern shore of Lake Pontchartrain, that\u2019s precisely what it accomplished.<\/p>\n
Approximately 100 volunteers dedicated two days to stacking burlap sacks filled with recycled glass sand. The outcome was a 300-foot barrier across a damaged section of marsh. The sacks contained about 50 tons of crushed glass<\/a>. This initiative stemmed from a New Orleans recycling organization that began four years prior, when two students sought a means to recycle their used wine bottles.<\/p>\n Does bottle glass genuinely contribute to combating shoreline erosion? In brief: it\u2019s less outlandish than it appears, and while early data looks promising, it\u2019s far from conclusive.<\/p>\n The recycling entity known as Glass Half Full<\/a> has a restoration division called ReCoast. The location was the Big Branch Marsh National Wildlife Refuge, which experienced shoreline damage from Hurricane Ida in 2021. This created an opening that allowed saltwater to infiltrate the freshwater marsh, resulting in the death of local vegetation. According to the group\u2019s narrative, relayed by Good Good Good<\/a>, the volunteer team stuffed donated burlap sacks with glass sand and transported them to close the breach.<\/p>\n The process of converting glass into sand is what confuses many. Glass originates from sand, primarily a mineral known as silica. Breaking down a bottle into fine particles brings it back to its original form.<\/p>\n Some initial peer-reviewed research, noted by Science News<\/a>, indicates that recycled glass sand acts similarly to natural sand. In greenhouse and field studies<\/a>, fish, crabs, oysters, and barnacles thrived in it, and wetland flora exhibited comparable growth in glass sand as in natural sediment.<\/p>\n A berm is fundamentally a straightforward structure. It acts as a low barrier that dissipates the force of incoming waves before they impact the softer marsh behind. By slowing the water, it allows the sediment it carries to settle rather than eroding more land away. This provides planted bulrushes with a more tranquil, shallower area to establish roots. Once the roots are secured, the marsh begins to regenerate.<\/p>\n The organization\u2019s own assessments at Big Branch suggest this is roughly what occurred. In one monitored section, which was photographed and measured monthly over the course of a year, vegetation coverage increased by 60%<\/a> within 12 months, and the area accumulated 1.25 inches of sediment. ReCoast\u2019s project manager Kat Fogg described the situation more vividly: \u201cWe\u2019re observing a variety of species now<\/a> and an abundant amount of [vegetation] growth. It\u2019s incredibly lush.\u201d<\/p>\n There are two important caveats to consider. Fogg oversees the project, and her claim of \u201cso lush\u201d is based on personal observation, not empirical data. Additionally, the 60% figure, while encouraging, is derived from a singular site monitored by the organization over just one year. This presents a promising indication rather than a definitive conclusion.<\/p>\n Glass Half Full originated from a common frustration. Founders Franziska Trautmann and Max Steitz, who were classmates at Tulane, initiated the venture in 2020 after struggling to find a way to recycle their wine bottles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Discarded glass typically doesn\u2019t serve to stabilize a coastline. Yet in June 2023, along the northern shore of Lake Pontchartrain, that\u2019s precisely what it accomplished. Approximately 100 volunteers dedicated two days to stacking burlap sacks filled with recycled glass sand. The outcome was a 300-foot barrier across a damaged section of marsh. The sacks contained […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":375730,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[179],"class_list":["post-375729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-source-scienceblog-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wolfscientific.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wolfscientific.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wolfscientific.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wolfscientific.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wolfscientific.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=375729"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wolfscientific.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375729\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wolfscientific.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/375730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wolfscientific.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=375729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wolfscientific.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=375729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wolfscientific.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=375729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}What ReCoast accomplished at Big Branch Marsh<\/h2>\n
How a bag of glass sand aids in stabilizing a shoreline<\/h2>\n
The bottles and the coffee sacks<\/h2>\n