September 19, 2011 Junk to Jewels

Fort Bragg, California




This used to be a dumping ground. Literally. They called it The Dumps. It was the town's garbage can until the 1960's, when "the dump" was closed for good.

The largest items, like refrigerators, were removed by man, but by that time nature had done a great work on all the rest. The large variety of glass bottles that had been tossed over the side had been rubbed down and polished to turn The Dumps into a beautiful Glass Beach!

Photo credit: mamojo

via Kuriositas

Naturally polished or not, I wouldn't walk on it barefoot.

Polished PCBs?

Cool! Let's make window sparklies and jewelry!

Maybe the closest IOTD to me yet. Just "over the hill" as inlanders call it.
It has been a regular destination for everyone in the area for years.
The prohibition on removing material that came when it was added to the state park system takes some powerful self-control. Virtually everybody has a bauble from Glass Beach.
Old flatware was almost as interesting as the glass, but seems to have mostly disappeared. Overall, the pickin's are much slimmer than 30-40 years ago.

Wait, you telling me that old rubbish is suddenly a scarce and precious resource? We're facing a glass pebble crisis? We need a government program (obviously) to pay hobos to drink lots of booze and throw the bottles into the ocean. Then illegal immigrant single mothers can grind and polish the glass chips and sell them to tourists. This will stimulate the economy, too! Can you spell shuvul reddy?

Cain't we just put regular bottles and glass into a rock tumbler?

Sir, this is a government program we're talking about here. There is no room for "cain't we just ..."s.