Many years ago my wife and I kayaked with a group in Blackfish Sound off Vancouver. We paddled with orcas by day and by night camped on the many islands of the sound. On several nights, we camped at what had been summer campsites of the Kwakiutl tribe.  The one tell-tale sign that a given spot had been a campsite for hundreds of years was the white shell beach, where the natives had feasted in the summer on shellfish and tossed their shells. The white crushed shell beaches were essentially the tribal garbage dump.  I recall thinking, at the time, how wonderful it would be if even our garbage dumps were as beautiful as those left by the Kwakiutl Indians.  I have recently learned that, at least in a few cases, that they are.

In Fort Bragg, California, tourists now come to see Glass Beach.

In the early 20th century, Fort Bragg residents threw their household garbage over cliffs owned by the Union Lumber Company onto what is now Glass Beach, discarding glass, appliances, and even vehicles. Locals referred to it as “The Dumps.” Fires were lit to reduce the size of the trash pile. 

The California State Water Resources Control Board and city leaders closed the area in 1967.[1][2] Various cleanup programs were undertaken through the years to correct the damage. Over the next several decades the pounding waves cleaned the beach, by breaking down everything but glass and pottery and tumbling those into the small, smooth, colored pieces that cover Glass Beach…. Tons of polished, broken glass were created by the pounding surf.  These smoothened, coloured glass particles then settled along the sea shore in millions, and so a magnificent beach was formed. 

In 1998, the private owner of the property determined that Glass Beach should belong to the public, and began a five year process of working with the California Coastal Conservancy and the California Integrated Waste Management Board for the cleanup and sale of the property to the state. Following completion of the clean up, the California Department of Parks and Recreation purchased the 38-acre (15 ha) Glass Beach property, and it was incorporated into MacKerricher State Park in October 2002.

Now if we cam only find away to manage plastics.  Thanks to David Rye for passing the story along.