Page 9 - aruba-today-20230111

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LOCAL Wednesday 11 January 2023

Another Treasure of Aruba’s Beaches: Sea Glass!

NOORD - It is hard to imag-
ine this happening today,
but years ago people
dumped all kinds of refuse
straight into the ocean,
including old cars, and
their household garbage,
which of course included
lots of glass. Over the next
30 years the pounding bles around in the water Funny, how trash can few of those pieces make
waves cleaned the beach, long enough is “Sea glass. It’s hard to believe the change into treasures! great souvenirs. You can
by breaking down every- short-sighted mistakes we place them in a wine glass
thing but glass and pot- The colorful pieces of glass were making that could Everybody knows that you or large bottle for decora-
tery. The pounding waves are being used for decora- have potentially ruined are not allowed to take tion and every time you
washed the trash up and tion, handcrafts and jew- these beautiful beaches. local shells home, but the look at it a smile will light up
down, back and forth. Tons elry! But thanks to natural pro- people working at the air- your face thinking back of
of polished, broken glass Once glass makes its way cesses, the ocean trans- port have no problem you your unforgettable Aruba
pieces were created by into the ocean, the glass is formed the trash into the taking sea glass home. A vacation! q
the pounding surf. These broken up into shards and is sea glass.
smoothened, colored glass tumbled around in the wa- Each colored gem on the
particles then settled along ter, where sand and other beach has its own story.
the sea shore in millions, rocks act like sandpaper to
and that is why you can smooth out its rough edges. The ruby red glass stones
find these beautiful and Sometimes as the sea glass are typically from old car
colorful pieces on the north is passed through fire, it be- tail-lights.
shore beaches of Aruba. comes fire glass, the rarest
of sea glass with certain Then, the sapphire rocks
Especially on the strip on inclusions, just like precious are the remnants of bro-
white sand between the fa- gems. ken apothecary bottles.
mous Natural Bridge” and The most common and
the huge red anchor close For years, the water beat the easiest to find are the
to “Grapefield” beach you against the different kinds brown (Amstel & Polar
will be able to find your own of trash being dumped. beer), green (Heineken
pieces of sea glass. The sea Glass, household appli- & Balashi beer) and clear
glass that was created is ances and even motor glass which are the soft
the product of a very long parts were discarded on much loved “soft drink”
and interesting process. It the beach. The waves and bottles.
can take anywhere from weather conditions wore
10 to 30 years to make sea down the overwhelming If you like to see the sea
glass. The name for any amount of garbage in the glass for yourself, and be
piece of glass that finds its water, creating millions of in awe of the power of na-
way to the ocean and tum- beautiful smooth rocks. ture, rent a car or jeep and
go explore our deserted
beaches on the north side
of the island. Make it a fun
family day!

Even if we didn’t mean to
pollute the Beaches how
we did, it is inspiring to see
just how the earth can cor-
rect our mistakes.