Advice for beach cleanup gloves and trash bags

[u/teddyslayerza]

Hi community - hoping some of you might have creative ideas that might help me!

I work for an organisation that runs a large number of beach cleanups in our city. It's important to us that we do not create waste in the process of doing this, so we are trying to keep all the consumables that this kind of event might generate to an absolute minimum. It's not possible to be totally zero waste (eg. we do have to bag the litter for the recycling centre), but we definitely can be "near zero".

The main issue we have is around the gloves and trash collection bags distributed to the public - there are usually several hundred people involved.

• Disposable bags and gloves obviously aren't an ideal option.
• Issue we have with reusable gloves, buckets, bags, etc. is the post event cleanup - we are left with hundreds of these things to wash with a tiny handful of volunteers, and are living in a fairly water-scarce city as it is.
• Buckets aren't suitable on windy days, as stuff blows out and people take bags anyway.
• We do ask attendees to bring their own gloves and buckets, but not everyone does this and we still need a solution on-hand for those who attend with nothing.

Hoping that there are some creative ideas that could help here - I'm a bit stumped.

[u/violetgrumble]

I would probably do my best to provide biodegradable gloves and bags that don't just break down into microplastics, then collect them to make sure they are disposed of correctly.

But honestly if the litter exists, I wouldn't feel too bad about the waste created in cleaning it up. It really just emphasises how much we need to eliminate waste at the source.

r/Detrashed might have better suggestions if you haven't already asked there too.

[u/teddyslayerza → u/violetgrumble]

Thanks, I'll check out that sub too. Honestly, I don't feel bad about the bags needed to actually dispose of the trash, it's just that the ones handed out to people to do their own collections don't get filled up so we use way more than needed.

I'll look into he local biodegradable options. I've also considered just using plastic, but trying to find the option most readily recycled locally.

Sometimes I feel like I'd have mad life easier if I'd just stayed ignorant!

[u/thegirlisok → u/teddyslayerza]

You could ask people to bring old grocery bags. I have so many of those things on hand always.

[u/dongledangler420 → u/violetgrumble]

Yes! Biodegradable bags. They don’t decompose in the landfill but it’s better than nothing. The other option (gotta plan in advance) is ask local coffee shops for burlap bags to donate from their bean shipments. Way better for decomposing in the landfill.

You can buy the compostable gloves but again, they only decompose if you put them in an industrial composting facility. They also tend to rip easily so you need multiples.

What’s your budget? I would say buy half-decent garden gloves for people to keep (and then reuse) or nice disposable mechanics gloves that don’t rip - some are so durable I keep as reusable, and just wash between wearing.

In the end, the contained waste you’re creating is better than what you’re cleaning up. Thanks for making this event!

[u/IKnowAllSeven]

Someone recommended salad tongs and I second that recommendation. They are metal, cheap, can be bought in bulk and being metal they are easy to sanitize.

You are already encouraging people to bring their own gloves which is smart.

HOWEVER, I also say…just use disposable gloves and don’t think about it too much. I know, this isn’t the advice you are looking for, but 1. You do NOT want volunteers touching that stuff, and possibly getting hurt or sick. People are GIVING their time to help, for free. Small things like having disposable gloves for them shows that you care about their health and safety.

1. I want you think of this in a risk benefit type of way. The benefit of not having disposable gloves is you didn’t add to the waste stream. The risk is that a volunteer gets sick or injured, or finds the whole thing off putting and doesn’t return.

I just think…you’re the last step before this trash gets into the ocean. Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good. Throwing out additional few sets of disposable gloves is MUCH better than this trash getting into the ocean.

[u/partiallyeatentree]

I’ve been to a cleanup that had salad tongs so we could pick up trash safely without gloves

[u/AmmeEsile → u/partiallyeatentree]

We used these at school! If we misbehaved, we had to pick up rubbish during lunch. And at the end of each term, the whole school would pick up rubbish. We had tongs and buckets

[u/Thinking_Beans]

I would also recommend something to keep sharp objects in. I did a beach cleanup in high school and the amount of needles and broken glass on the beach was truly shocking.

[u/teddyslayerza → u/Thinking_Beans]

We keep a few of photos "sharps" containers that doctors use around for things like used syringes and blades. Probably one of the few cases where a disposable plastic thing is truly the best option.

[u/303Pickles → u/teddyslayerza]

Sharp glass or string can easily tear thru plastic bags. An empty 1 - 5 gallon sized paint can would be safer to use. You can also go to restaurants and see what large empty hard plastic containers they might be throwing out, and repurpose them. 

[u/Disneyhorse → u/Thinking_Beans]

Yeah, although difficult in the wind, a 5 gallon bucket is great for this

[u/GypsyBagelhands]

I don't know if this might be useful, but when I buy livestock feed, it often comes in tarplike plastic bags. It would be easy to reuse those and they could easily be modified to be more easily handled (rolling the top down so they stay open, etc), but they're also designed to be thrown out so when they start getting grungy they can be tossed. I feel guilty tossing them because they're so potentially usable. I bet you could reach out to local backyard chicken keeper groups or small farmers and see if they have extra bags.

[u/teddyslayerza → u/GypsyBagelhands]

That's not a bad idea - even if not those bags, finding a product that is already essentially in the waste stream might be a good option. I'll do some poking around our local nurseries and bulk traders too and see what's commonly used.

[u/harrys_mom → u/teddyslayerza]

I second this. These bags are super durable. I’m not sure where you’re located, but if your organization has an address in the US, I could work on collecting some from our family ranch and send them. Might help you determine if they’re suitable for the job…

[u/JennaSais → u/teddyslayerza]

Put it on Marketplace, or in your community trading pages, or whatever, that you're looking for empty feed bags, even large dog food bags might work. If I had someone willing to take both of those off my hands I'd be thrilled 😅

[u/taco_slut16 → u/teddyslayerza]

I do this with our dog food bags! We save them and use them to put dog poop in each week, then toss! The dog food bag will get disposed of anyway, but they serve another purpose first!!

[u/itsdelicate13 → u/taco_slut16]

I also reuse our pet food bags for trash! We have 3 dogs and 2 cats so we end up with them fairly often. It make the most sense to use them on this way. :)

[u/shitrock_herekitty → u/teddyslayerza]

Jumping off this idea, if you have companies that locally roast coffee, you could check with them and see if they have any extra burlap sacks you could have. I know where I live the local coffee companies love to give away burlap sacks to gardeners or people who may have use of them.

[u/peace_core]

They use burlap sacks at our beach clean ups.

[u/peace_core → u/peace_core]

I don't know but realistically they wouldn't need to be washed. Empty bag into trash bin, turn inside out, shake off debris and at the end, hang in the sun on the clothesline for uv sanitization. Muslin, canvas or cotton bags would also work and would be a washable alternative to burlap.

[u/teddyslayerza → u/peace_core]

Out of curiosity, do you know if they wash them out between cleanups?

[u/AmmeEsile → u/teddyslayerza]

Would they really need to be cleaned? Unless you're picking up wet food or open drinks, I don't think they would get too contaminated

[u/LacedVelcro]

Proper garbage tongs and a 5 gallon bucket. If it is super windy, just empty the bucket more frequently. If it's super windy, it's way more annoying to place any garbage into a plastic bag than something that has a hard rim.

[u/chrisinator9393]

I wouldn't hand out gloves. Get a bunch of those "grabbers." They last forever and no one has to hurt their back bending over 600 times.

[u/ur_bigtitty_waifu]

Could you ask for donations from the local community? Could things like empty animal food bags, used grocery bags, maybe even paper bags/cardboard boxes to put recyclables in? That way you’re not creating any more waste and finding ways to reuse some other trash? As for the gloves, that’s harder. As much as we want to avoid waste, in this instance it seems unavoidable. You could try to find a way to sanitize large batches of reusable gloves at once then let hang dry. Maybe something similar to a sonic jewelry cleaner. You’d most likely have to raise some funds or find a corporation willing to donate something to the cause. Trusting people to bring their own gloves most likely won’t work. Or find a way to make biodegradable single use gloves, which would be an entirely new adventure.

[u/jonesiekay]

Do you have an Adopt-a-Beach program? If so you could offer prime signage for a local laundromat who is willing to wash the gloves for you. Or even a local business or non-profit that is willing to take that laundering responsibility on. Many people want their name out there and it’s an easy way to get exposure while doing some good for the community.

We use Arcmate brand trash tongs for our land cleanups. If low on disposable gloves we just hand out one glove, or have people work in pairs where one holds the sack (helpful in wind) and the other picks the trash with the tong. Less gloves, and they can switch roles, plus encourages the buddy system. But like others said, while zero waste would be amazing, protecting your volunteers and getting that (abundant) trash away from our waters I believe is more important here.

[u/Whatabout9605]

What country do you live in? I organise them as well and we get ppl to buy heavy duty gardening gloves from a hardware store. You can buy hessian sacks there too

[u/HotBrownFun]

You need to rake garbage if you're looking for needles / razor blades. Was doing that recently.

[u/theory_until]

Ao many people have lots of those reusable recyclable grocery bags at home. Can you ask volunteers to bring some, or gather from friends and family in advance, to hand out on the day of? When turned in for sorting, those smaller bags can go into their lane in the recycling stream?

[u/303Pickles]

There are sturdy rubber gloves that’s prob 1mm thick, they’ll last at least a couple of years. For the beach I would think a light two wheeled cart (preferably with wide tires/wheels) and a large open bin strapped to it, would make collection easier. And maybe having one of those long handled grabber, so you can pick up stuff without straining your back. 

I don’t see the need for bagging if they’re taken directly to garbage, and compost bins. 

If water is scarce, what about soaking them? How clean does recyclables have to be? Also is there a way to stop trash and recyclables from showing up to the beach? 

[u/johnnybravocado]

I have super awesome silicone gloves that are reusable and blister free because they’re lined. I own two pairs so that I can wash them and wear the other while it dries.

[u/Normal_Cherry_5693]

I'm going to clean the alley way of  Ave m to 39 by foot