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LOCAL Wednesday 15 February 2023

Another Treasure of Aruba’s Beaches: Sea Glass!

NOORD - It is hard to imag- piece of glass that finds its these beautiful beaches.
ine this happening today, way to the ocean and tum- But thanks to natural pro-
but years ago people bles around in the water cesses, the ocean trans-
dumped all kinds of refuse long enough is “Sea glass. formed the trash into the
straight into the ocean, sea glass.
including old cars, and The colorful pieces of glass Each colored gem on the
their household garbage, are being used for decora- beach has its own story.
which of course included tion, handcrafts and jew-
lots of glass. Over the next elry! The ruby red glass stones
30 years the pounding Once glass makes its way are typically from old car
waves cleaned the beach, into the ocean, the glass is tail-lights.
by breaking down every- broken up into shards and is
thing but glass and pot- tumbled around in the wa- Then, the sapphire rocks
tery. The pounding waves ter, where sand and other are the remnants of bro-
washed the trash up and rocks act like sandpaper to ken apothecary bottles.
down, back and forth. Tons smooth out its rough edges. The most common and
of polished, broken glass Sometimes as the sea glass the easiest to find are the your face thinking back of vacation! q
pieces were created by is passed through fire, it be- brown (Amstel & Polar your unforgettable Aruba
the pounding surf. These comes fire glass, the rarest beer), green (Heineken
smoothened, colored glass of sea glass with certain & Balashi beer) and clear
particles then settled along inclusions, just like precious glass which are the soft
the sea shore in millions, gems. much loved “soft drink”
and that is why you can bottles.
find these beautiful and For years, the water beat
colorful pieces on the north against the different kinds If you like to see the sea
shore beaches of Aruba. of trash being dumped. glass for yourself, and be
Glass, household appli- in awe of the power of na-
Especially on the strip on ances and even motor ture, rent a car or jeep and
white sand between the fa- parts were discarded on go explore our deserted
mous Natural Bridge” and the beach. The waves and beaches on the north side
the huge red anchor close weather conditions wore of the island. Make it a fun
to “Grapefield” beach you down the overwhelming family day!
will be able to find your own amount of garbage in the Even if we didn’t mean to
pieces of sea glass. The sea water, creating millions of pollute the Beaches how
glass that was created is beautiful smooth rocks. we did, it is inspiring to see
the product of a very long just how the earth can cor-
and interesting process. It It’s hard to believe the rect our mistakes.
can take anywhere from short-sighted mistakes we
10 to 30 years to make sea were making that could Funny, how trash can
glass. The name for any have potentially ruined change into treasures!

Everybody knows that you
are not allowed to take
local shells home, but the
people working at the air-
port have no problem you
taking sea glass home. A
few of those pieces make
great souvenirs. You can
place them in a wine glass
or large bottle for decora-
tion and every time you
look at it a smile will light up