Litter at Pantai Morib
As apart of the collection of raw data through beach profiling and the litter pick up, we had to look into the types and amounts of litter that were on the beach and provide an analysis. When we went to Pantai Morib to collect raw, primary source data the entire grade, comprised of 3 classes split into 9 groups consisting of about 4-5 people. Each group was assigned a specific section of the beach and had to collect litter. This was done so we could compare and contrast litter data from different sections of the beach.
We found out even though Pantai Morib is a small beach, it was very polluted. When we reached there the bins were full to the brim, there was litter next to the bins. Throughout the time we were on the beach, I saw no signs of bins throughout the whole beach stretch, only that one bin when we first arrived. This shows us that littering and throwing away rubbish is not a big concern for the people who manage Pantai Morib as there are relatively no bins, and the only bins are overcrowded and full. There was also plastic bags stuck, cigarette buds everywhere and many other horrible looking human impacts that destroyed the look of the beach. Most Malaysians are just very lazy and cannot be bothered to carry their rubbish with them to throw away later. Other reasons could involve: lack of bins, lack of education on the effects of pollution, thinking materials are biodegradable, they have no sense of community, they don't care about others, they don't care about the environment. We also noticed that there was quite a large amount of trash stuck in the wet sand closest to the water. This shows that there is litter being carried out into the ocean due to the processes of longshore drift which carry the litter in a zig zag motion up the beach through the waves. Litter gets out into the ocean and is harmful for the animals in the aquatic ecosystems.
We found out even though Pantai Morib is a small beach, it was very polluted. When we reached there the bins were full to the brim, there was litter next to the bins. Throughout the time we were on the beach, I saw no signs of bins throughout the whole beach stretch, only that one bin when we first arrived. This shows us that littering and throwing away rubbish is not a big concern for the people who manage Pantai Morib as there are relatively no bins, and the only bins are overcrowded and full. There was also plastic bags stuck, cigarette buds everywhere and many other horrible looking human impacts that destroyed the look of the beach. Most Malaysians are just very lazy and cannot be bothered to carry their rubbish with them to throw away later. Other reasons could involve: lack of bins, lack of education on the effects of pollution, thinking materials are biodegradable, they have no sense of community, they don't care about others, they don't care about the environment. We also noticed that there was quite a large amount of trash stuck in the wet sand closest to the water. This shows that there is litter being carried out into the ocean due to the processes of longshore drift which carry the litter in a zig zag motion up the beach through the waves. Litter gets out into the ocean and is harmful for the animals in the aquatic ecosystems.
Group 6 Litter Graphs and Analysis
Figure 1: A bar graph showing the amount and types of litter my group, group 6 collected when we were doing our litter collection.
My group, group 6 was assigned the 6th section of the beach which was at the end of the second third of the beach, which was in the center but closer to the mangroves than the human impacted area (the promenade). As you can see in figure 1, In this area we found all the different types of litter but we weren't aware that we had to tally the amounts collected so we had to estimate. We then created a pie graph to tell us the percentages of litter collected from our group. As shown with 20 pieces plastic was the most common type of litter collected.
When we collected our litter, we realized that the only picnickers on the beach was in our section. Even though the majority of the litter we collected was plastic, we also found glass, metal, paper and 'other' materials. There was quite a few pieces of glass from bottles, which we saw being soled at the promenade. There was very limited amount of metal because metal is not a very common packaging material. 'Other' was the second most common material due to the fact there was a lot of uncommon items left behind by people, so we put it into one category. We found items such as: pants, a large cloth bag, toys etc. There was also paper, which was the third most common material we found, possibly due to the fact a lot of packaging uses paper such as paper bags which food is put into take away. Plastic is the most common litter we found in our section and they came in the form of bottles, containers, straws, spoons, forks, bottle caps, bags and children toys.
We deduced from the information we gathered of large amount of human related products, that this could be a common place for people to have picnics and chill out since people will normally go to the middle of the beach where it is more peaceful and not surrounded by buildings and shops. We also realised there were basically no trash bins located in our area, which is probably another reason why individuals just litter on the beach because they were too lazy to collect their rubbish and throw it away later.
When we collected our litter, we realized that the only picnickers on the beach was in our section. Even though the majority of the litter we collected was plastic, we also found glass, metal, paper and 'other' materials. There was quite a few pieces of glass from bottles, which we saw being soled at the promenade. There was very limited amount of metal because metal is not a very common packaging material. 'Other' was the second most common material due to the fact there was a lot of uncommon items left behind by people, so we put it into one category. We found items such as: pants, a large cloth bag, toys etc. There was also paper, which was the third most common material we found, possibly due to the fact a lot of packaging uses paper such as paper bags which food is put into take away. Plastic is the most common litter we found in our section and they came in the form of bottles, containers, straws, spoons, forks, bottle caps, bags and children toys.
We deduced from the information we gathered of large amount of human related products, that this could be a common place for people to have picnics and chill out since people will normally go to the middle of the beach where it is more peaceful and not surrounded by buildings and shops. We also realised there were basically no trash bins located in our area, which is probably another reason why individuals just litter on the beach because they were too lazy to collect their rubbish and throw it away later.
Comparative Litter Graph and Analysis (All Groups)
From figure 1 and 2 we can see that group 2 collected the most litter (327) , followed by group: 3 (114) ,1 (88), 9 (86) , 5 (62), 8 (50), 6 (34), 7 (21) and 4 (15). There was not a specific pattern for the amount of litter collected but we can see that the first third had the most litter, probably due to how close these sections are to human impacted areas. Group 9 also had a large amount of litter, and this is probably due to longshore drift transporting litter from profiles with human impacts and trapping them in the mangroves. Groups 5 was roughly the center of the beach and might also explain why it is in the middle for the most trash collected, because this would be the midpoint for longshore drift. Group 8 had less litter than what i expected it to have, because of longshore drift I would have though there would have been a larger amount of litter that would have been transported into the area, but maybe, the litter in profile 8 was already moved to profile 9. Groups 6&7 were roughly at the end of the 2nd third and start of the last third of the beach. As suspected there is less human interaction in area further from human impacted areas, and therefore less litter. Group 4 surprisingly had a very small amount of litter, which was not what I suspected but this could have been due to the group not tallying the amount of litter collected, and just estimating. The only other thing I can think of that might have caused the little amount of litter is that since it is roughly the middle of the beach, the litter has already been transported across towards the mangroves through longshore drift.
As you can see in figure 1, the most common form of litter was plastic, followed by 'other' materials, paper, while metal and glass tied.
Group 2 collected the most amount of plastic; group 4 collected the most amount of glass; there was a tie between group 1, 3 and 9 for the most amount of metal collected; group 2 had the most amount of paper collected; group 2 also had the most amount of 'other' litter collected. In conclusion, group 2 had the most amount of litter. This could be due to the closeness to human impacted areas such as the promenade. This proves the fact that there is the most human interaction occurring in the first third due to human impacts like shops and the hotel. While at the opposite end, the last third, also has a lot of litter due to the process of longshore drift, which eventually traps the litter in the mangroves.
P.S. Some groups did not tally because they were unaware that we were supposed to count the amount of trash collected. Therefore, some groups had to estimate roughly how much they think they picked up on the day. This would make the results to be inaccurate.
As you can see in figure 1, the most common form of litter was plastic, followed by 'other' materials, paper, while metal and glass tied.
Group 2 collected the most amount of plastic; group 4 collected the most amount of glass; there was a tie between group 1, 3 and 9 for the most amount of metal collected; group 2 had the most amount of paper collected; group 2 also had the most amount of 'other' litter collected. In conclusion, group 2 had the most amount of litter. This could be due to the closeness to human impacted areas such as the promenade. This proves the fact that there is the most human interaction occurring in the first third due to human impacts like shops and the hotel. While at the opposite end, the last third, also has a lot of litter due to the process of longshore drift, which eventually traps the litter in the mangroves.
P.S. Some groups did not tally because they were unaware that we were supposed to count the amount of trash collected. Therefore, some groups had to estimate roughly how much they think they picked up on the day. This would make the results to be inaccurate.
Glass
As you can see from figure 1,2 and 3, the beach did not contain a lot of litter that was glass. Out of all the types of litter collected, glass only had 16 pieces. There were even some groups that did not collect any glass at all (group 2 and 7). One group collected 1 piece of glass, four groups out of 9 collected 2 pieces of glass litter, while only 1 group collected 3 pieces of glass. The highest amount of glass collected was 4, and that was in section 9 (near the mangroves). Glass just like metal is not a common material used today due to how fragile it is. It is easily damaged and once dropped, your item is unusable along with its contents.
There was not a specific pattern in the amount of glass collected throughout the sections, but continuously fluctuating number wise. According to figure 4, group 9 collected the most amount of glass. The reason why there was more glass on the second half: groups 5-9 (11) compared to the first half groups 1-4 (5), although most of human activity occurred on the first half of the beach is due to longshore drift, which will slowly wash the glass up the shore in the direction of the mangroves (group 9). As a percentage of all litter collected on the beach, there was a relatively small amount of glass collected. Glass tied for the least frequent type of litter collected. |
Figure 4: pie graph of the amount of glass collected by group.
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Metal
Figure 5: pie graph of the amount of metal collected by each group.
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Figure 1, 2 and 3 shows us that out of all types of litter collected at Pantai Morib Beach, metal tied with glass for the least amount collected as only 16 pieces contributed to the total. In the first half (groups 1-4) there was 9 pieces of metal collected while in the second half (5-9) there was only 7 pieces collected. As the graph tells us, there is more metal concentrated at the first half compared to the second half. It made sense because the most human interaction happens in the first section in comparison to the second. But I also found this quite surprising because I thought longshore drift would have transported the materials to the other end of the beach, which would have resulted in the second half having more. But this was the opposite that happened. Metal was mainly found in the form of tin cans. Metal is not that common for the use of packaging, and is only commonly used for drinks. We saw the promenade and shops near the beach selling a wide variety of drinks in cans, which is probably where the metal products came from.
The groups that collected the most were group 1, 3 and 9 (the two opposite end of the beach) with 3 (18.8% of the total of metal). The centre of the beach (group 5&6) had the same amount with a total of 1. There is a slight pattern with opposite groups (1&9, 2&8, 4&7, 5&6) having roughly the same numbers. Same with glass, the percentage of litter on the beach that was mental was relatively small in comparison to the other types of litter found on the beach. |
Paper
According to figure 1, 2, 3, paper was the 3 most common type of litter collected with 127 of the total amount of 797 (16%). The most paper was found in section 1 (near the restaurants and hotel), with 82 pieces. According to figure 6, group 2 collected the most with 48%. Section 2 (near the mangroves) had a total of 46, slightly more than half of what was collected in section 1. This is most likely due to the fact there is more human interaction in this area due to the proximity of the recreational facilities. Group 9 had the most amount of paper in section 2, due to the paper stuck around the mangroves, which accumulates.
In conjunction with the analysis above, I found a pattern with the amount of litter collected at the different ends of the beach. Group 1&2 had the most in section 1 due to the most amount of human interaction in this section while group 8&9 had the most amount of paper in this section due to the processes of longshore drift bringing paper from the human impacted side to the mangroves. The middle groups (3-7) has a relatively small amount of litter. As we can see from the graph, the amount of litter that was paper was the 3rd most common, having an extremely large difference in numbers from glass and metal. |
Figure 6: pie graph showing the amount of paper collected.
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Plastic
Figure 7: pie graph showing the amount of plastic collected.
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Figure 1,2 and 3 shows us that the type of litter that was collected the most was plastic, taking up more than half with 417 pieces (52%) of the 797 total. Plastic is one of the world's most common form of packaging due to how convenient it is. Since it is the most common, it is the most polluted material on the planet. Plastic may be convenient short term, but in the long run it can harm animals through toxins released or them eating it because they thought it was food. This is due to litter on the beach being collected through longshore drift and binging it out to sea where it will harm ecosystems. Unlike paper, plastic is not bioderadeable and will be there for tens of years. From the graph, we can see that there is a pattern where the first third collected 261 pieces of litter, the second third collected 60 pieces while the last third collected 86. The amount fluctuated starting with a large amount, then decreasing and increasing again.
This pattern suggests that there is a significant amount of human activity along the entire beach because of the relatively large numbers for most groups. This pattern also suggests that longshore drift has taken place, moving the plastic from the obviously concentrated first third to the last third (group 2 having 46.5% from total plastic collected), with less in the middle. In the last third group 9 had the most litter with 11%. This indicated that the litter is stuck in the roots and is accumulating in the area. Through figure 1,2, and 3 we can see that the most common was plastic with a total of 417 out of the 797 pieces we picked up. |
Other
Since there was a very wide range of litter found on the beach 4 categories weren't enough, therefore we had to put it under a compilation category called 'other.' As seen in figure 1, 2 and 3 these weren't as common as the 4 major sources of litter and ranged from clothes to diapers to styrofoam. The first third had the most amount totaling 170 out of 221. The second third had 25 pieces, while the last third had 26. As seen before, the 1st third has the most, with group 3 having 29.9% of the total amount of 'other' collected, the second third decreases and the last third increases. Again, this is due to the process of longshore drift bringing litter from the human impacted areas to the opposite end of the beach, in the mangroves.
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Figure 8: pie graph total 'other' collected.
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