At Purdy Spit, ‘message in a bottle’ takes on new meaning

Gig Harbor environmental activist Mandi Thorneis adding new meaning to the concept “message in a bottle.”

At the Purdy sand spit, a sign is hung on a tree encouraging those at the beach to find a small plastic bottle and fill it up with as many tiny pieces of garbage as possible.

When the bottle is filled to the brim, the message in a bottle is clear: The beach is filled with tiny pieces of litter, and every piece matters.

“When you go to clean up a lot of the time you look for the biggest pieces, or if you only find small pieces you get discouraged, thinking you didn’t clean up that much,” Thorne said. “When it’s in this form, the bottle is like a trophy. It’s kind of fun.”

Thorne’s plastic-focused “message in a bottle” concept will be expanded upon on March 21st.

Global Recycling Day is on March 18th. In honor of this day, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on March 21st Thorne is hosting her first beach cleanup of the year at Purdy Spit. This is the third annual Global Recycling Day cleanup.

This year’s theme is “Be a recycling hero.”

“You always look at super heroes and their super powers,” Thorne said. “By using your hand of green contribution, that is such a powerful super hero concept.”

This beach cleanup is a collaborative effort among Thorne, Ocean5, Beard Swim Co., and Harbor Wildwatch.

Last year, on June 8th, Thorne said 164 volunteers accumulated 730 pounds of trash on Purdy Spit.

“It’s a plastic issue we are having, not only in the landfill, but in our oceans. We need to find a solution,” Thorne said.

Thorne said all ages are welcome to attend the event. She praises the children who attend, saying their minds are brilliant and are always looking for new, creative ways to use the plastic found at the beach in a positive way.

“The children have such a beautiful imagination,” Thorne said. “They are playing with the beach trash like its Legos. This is what I get excited about. I want to give these kids the new pathways to expand creatively.”

Over the past two years, Thorne has focused her attention on learning and gathering data on plastic waste. Whether this be through her efforts at beach clean ups or teaching two environmental education classes, Thorne has driven herself to create an environmental ripple throughout Gig Harbor.

“We have a lot of pieces of the puzzle now that make a picture,” Thorne said.

This story was originally published March 11, 2020 at 12:00 AM.