SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — As a storm passes through the San Diego region, the Tijuana River picks up the pace carrying even more garbage and debris from south of the border.
A trash boom installed in the river channel three months ago, just inside U.S. soil, rises according to the level of the water stopping floating materials such as lumber, aluminum cans and soccer balls.
Alter Terra, the nonprofit in charge of the boom, has been surveying the types of materials flowing in.
“It’s organic compounds, lots of plastics, lots of Styrofoam,” said Oscar Terra, Alter Terra’s executive director.
Romo shared some of their early findings with Border Report.
“By sheer volume, plastic bottles make up 41 percent of all the trash that flows in from Tijuana.”
Plastic foam was second with 25 percent.
Organic trimmings and prunings, composite metals, glass bottles, lumber and other items were also present.
Overwhelmingly, plastics are the biggest source of pollution.
“About 66 percent of all the trash is plastics, floating plastics.”
According to Romo, the trash survey helps them understand human behavior south of the border where there are very few recycling programs or consistent garbage collection.
“That eventually will help us to talk with our Tijuana partners about changing those behaviors, make them see that the majority of the trash that is something that can be avoided, what we see is preventable.”
Romo tells Border Report the trash survey will also help them to design a more permanent structure that will stop an even greater number of trash from coming into the Tijuana River Valley and out to the Pacific Ocean.
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