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LOCAL Wednesday 28 december 2022

Another Treasure of Aruba’s Beaches: Sea Glass!

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

Funny, how trash can
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