(Photo by Troy Faulder, courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

by Robert Barossi

It’s become an unfortunate truth of our time that our oceans are filled with plastic. There are now-famous islands of garbage which have appeared, floating in the middle of the vast ocean expanse. On shores and coastlines, plastic is washing up everywhere. At pretty much any spot, along any beach or rocky coast, you can see bits and pieces of plastic floating on or deposited by the waves. This story out of Australia looks at the serious problem of plastic washing ashore and the volunteers who are making a major effort to clean it up. Every Sunday morning, these groups of volunteers are filling numerous bags of rubbish, including lots of plastic, from spots along the coast.  These groups of concerned citizens are giving their time, energy and effort to clean up their beaches and waterways, making at least a small dent in what is a worsening global problem.