Sumary results and analysis of beach litter surveys on lake geneva in the region of Vevey-Montreux-Clarens

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Beach litter survey results for Montreux-Clarens-Vevey
November 2015 - January 2016
A hammerdirt project

2. 2
The project
Montreux Clean Beach Project II (MCB-
PII) removes and inventories macro-plas-
tic pollution from the shoreline of Lake
Léman.
The data collected can be used to evaluate
current litter mitigation strategies. MCB-
PII is designed and inspired by the citizen
science method.
MCBPII is the second project initiated by
hammerdirt. The results of MCBPI and the
project plan can be found at our website
www.hammerdirt.ch. The project plan de-
scribes our methods, provides references
and defines the deliverables for MCBPII.
Data
The data for each survey location is avail-
able for download from our website, fol-
low the “Kobotoolbox” link for the location
in question. Once you have accessed the
“toolbox” you can download the data, view
the results on a map or view the results
one by one, images are included.
Association
All the labor and resources for this project
are furnished by hammerdirt association.
We are always looking for serious, dedi-
cated individuals that would like to fund,
initiate or participate in projects of this
type. For more information, visit our web-
site.
Funding
MCBPII is unfunded, all costs for the proj-
ect have been assumed by Shannon and
Roger Erismann, the founders of ham-
merdirt. We would like to expand our
operations to include more locations and
more surveys. Individuals or groups inter-
ested in funding this project or an expand-
ed version should contact us directly.
Somebody has to do it
Contents
The project 2
Data 2
Funding 2
Combined results 4
Total pieces found 4
Variety of items found 4
Plastics and averages 4
Comparison of categories 6
Conclusions 8
Recommendation 8
Plage de l’Arabie 10
Montreux rive gauche 12
Montreux rive droite 13
Baye de Clarens 14
La Veveyse 15

3. 3
How much did you spend
on litter prevention ?
Was it effective ?

4. 4 Combined results
Total pieces found
Twenty-seven operations yielded 8’560 pieces (pcs) of trash for the period of No-
vember 23, 2015 to January 27, 2016. Of that total 2’003 pcs were removed in one
operation from “La plage de l’Arabie” in Vevey. This beach is not normally part of
the project and is not included in the combined survey results that follow.
Variety of items found
The variety of material found represents seventy-six “Marine Litter Watch “ (MLW)
categories, an 8.6% increase from the last period. Cigarette butts, pieces of foam
and pieces of plastic combine for 60% of the items found. Bottles/broken glass,
snack food wrappers and cotton-swabs round up the top 6 items representing 72%
of the trash found on these beaches.
Plastics and averages
Plastic in all forms represents 84% of all material found and fluctuates between 59%
- 97% of the daily total. The moving average of daily totals reached it’s peak of 276
pcs on 10/12/2015 to finish at 252 pcs.
Cigarette Butts
25%
Foam
24%
Plastic pieces
11%
Glass
bottles/pieces
4%
Candy wrappers
4%
Cotton Swabs
4%
All the rest
28%
Top six categoriesof trash found
all sites combined
Montreux - Clarens - Vevey
November 2015 - January 2016

5. 5
Location # Of surveys Total pieces
%
Plastic
Montreux rive droite 5 1405 80.4
Montreux rive gauche 7 2246 84.8
La Veveyse 7 1026 82.1
Clarens 7 1880 89.5
l’Arabie 1 2003 97
Total for the period 27 8560 87.62
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
50,0%
60,0%
70,0%
80,0%
90,0%
100,0%
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
2015-11-23
2015-11-24
2015-11-27
2015-12-01
2015-12-02
2015-12-04
2015-12-04
2015-12-07
2015-12-08
2015-12-10
2015-12-10
2015-12-14
2015-12-16
2015-12-17
2015-12-17
2015-12-30
2016-01-06
2016-01-07
2016-01-08
2016-01-13
2016-01-13
2016-01-15
2016-01-19
2016-01-19
2016-01-21
2016-01-23
Plasticasa%ofdailytotal
Totalpiecescollectedperday
Daily totals and plastic as a % of daily total
Montreux-Clarens-Vevey
November 23 2015 - January 27 2016
Daily total Daily Average % Plastic

6. 6 A comparison of key categories as a % of daily totals
We compared the % daily totals of cigarette butts, foam, bits of plastic and cot-
ton swabs across the three survey sites. We combined Montreux rive gauche with
Montreux rive droite and “La plage du Pierrier” was added to the Baye de Clarens.
Cigarette butts make up 25% of the items found across all sites, Montreux consitent-
ly has the greatest amount of cigarette butts as a % daily total ranging between 10%
and 60% for the period.
0,0%
6,0%
12,0%
18,0%
24,0%
30,0%
36,0%
42,0%
48,0%
54,0%
60,0%
66,0%
2015-11-23
2015-11-30
2015-12-07
2015-12-14
2015-12-21
2015-12-28
2016-01-04
2016-01-11
2016-01-18
Percentageofdailytotal
Cigarette butts as % of daily total
Nov 2015 - Jan 2016
Vevey Clarens Montreux
0,00%
6,00%
12,00%
18,00%
24,00%
30,00%
2015-11-23
2015-11-30
2015-12-07
2015-12-14
2015-12-21
2015-12-28
2016-01-04
2016-01-11
2016-01-18
Percentageofdailytotal
Bits of plastic as % of daily total
Nov 2015 - Jan 2016
Vevey Clarens Montreux

7. 7
0,0%
2,0%
4,0%
6,0%
8,0%
10,0%
12,0%
2015-11-23
2015-11-30
2015-12-07
2015-12-14
2015-12-21
2015-12-28
2016-01-04
2016-01-11
2016-01-18
Percentageofdailytotal
Cotton swabs as % of daily total
Nov 2015 - Jan 2016
Vevey Clarens Montreux
The cyclical nature of the beach cast litter is evident and the relative quantities be-
come more similar across the sites when cigarette butts are removed from the inven-
tory results. This is espe­cially evident for cotton swabs where the peaks and troughs
appear to coincide.
-2,0%
8,0%
18,0%
28,0%
38,0%
48,0%
58,0%
68,0%
78,0%
88,0%
2015-11-23
2015-11-30
2015-12-07
2015-12-14
2015-12-21
2015-12-28
2016-01-04
2016-01-11
2016-01-18
Percentageofdailytotal
Bits of foam as % of daily total
Nov 2015 - Jan 2016
Vevey Clarens Montreux

8. 8
0,0%
6,0%
12,0%
18,0%
24,0%
30,0%
36,0%
42,0%
48,0%
54,0%
2015-11-23
2015-11-30
2015-12-07
2015-12-14
2015-12-21
2015-12-28
2016-01-04
2016-01-11
2016-01-18
Percentageofdailytotal
Food related items as % of daily total
Nov 2015 - Jan 2016
Veveyse Clarens Montreux
All food related categories were combined and compared as a % of daily totals. The
chart is similar to that of cigarettes in two very important ways:
1. Montreux has the highest percentage of this type of litter
2. The graph is flatter, the period between peaks and troughs is longer
Conclusions
When cigarette butts are removed from the daily to-
tals, the % quantities and occurrence of foam, cot-
ton-swabs and plastic pieces are similar across all
three sites. In the case of food related items, with a
chart similar to cigarette butts, the elevated quantities
at the Baye de Montreux may be a problem to that lo-
cation. Given our experience and the results from the
first project we expect this pattern to be confirmed as
the surveillance continues.
Recommendation
Montreux could benefit from a litter prevention pro-
gram targetting the areas directly adjacent to the lake
and La Baye. Specifically on the beaches themselves
and in the shops and restaurants in the immediate
area.
A consolidated regional effort to reduce the amount
of foam introduced in the environment is adivsable.
Additional data collections, meteo & hydrologic data
as well as increased cooperation from the communes
would be useful to analyze in greater detail the fluctu-
ations of material collected at each of the 3 sites.
• Drink bottles <=0.5l
• Drink bottles >0.5l
• Food containers incl. fast
food containers
• Plastic caps/lids drinks
• Plastic rings from bottle caps/lids
• Crisps packets/sweets wrappers
• Lolly sticks
• Cups and cup lids
• Cutlery and trays
• Straws and stirrers
• Bottle caps, lids & pull tabs
• Cups, food trays, food
wrappers, drink containers
• Corks
• Ice-cream sticks, chip forks,
chopsticks & toothpicks
• 4/6-pack yokes, six-pack rings
• Mesh vegetable bags
• Tableware (plates & cups)
• Disposable BBQ’s
• Cans (food)
Food related items :

9. 9
Pieces of foam : Baye de Montreux 13 January 2016
Cotton swabs, foam and various items : Baye de Clarens 13 January 2016

10. 10
0,00
5,00
10,00
15,00
20,00
25,00
30,00
MontreuxRD
Veveyse
Clarens
MontreuxRG
Arabie
Piecesoftrashpermeter² Maximum density of trash per meter²
Nov 2015 - Jan 2016
Plage de l’Arabie
The plage de l’Arabie is about 70 meters
from the Veveyse. This site has never
been surveyed before, and the prox-
imity to our regular site seemed like
an interesting opportunity to compare
findings.
At 76m² the Arabie is smaller than any
of the four sites, stairs provide acces to
the beach from the boardwalk. The to-
tal inventory for the site was 2’003 pcs,
representing 46 different MLW catego-
ries.
The density of trash present was obvi-
ous when we arrived on site, in relative
terms the Arabie presents a density 6
times greater than the maximum value
of any other beach under surveillance.
When compared to other studies, the
Arabie had a greater density of trash
than the average found on one kilome-
ter of beach in England.
Four categories occupied 56% of
the trash found on the beach:
1. Candy wrappers
2. Bits of plastic
3. Plastic sheeting
4. Plastic cups
Forty-two other categories com-
bine to make up the rest.
Candy wrappers
21%
Bits of plastic
16%
Plastic sheeting
12%
Plastic cups
7%
All else
44%
Top four categoriesof trash found
Plage de l'Arabie
January 24, 2016

11. 11
Plaged de l’Arabie, January 24, 2016

12. 12
Individual results: Montreux rive gauche
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
2015-11-23
2015-12-04
2015-12-10
2015-12-17
2015-12-30
2016-01-13
2016-01-19
Movingaverage
Totalpiecescollectedperday
Daily totals and average
Montreux rivegauche
November 2015 - January 2016
Daily total Average
2’246 pieces of trash were
removed in seven opera-
tions from Montreux rive
gauche(MRG). With a maxi-
mum density of 4.24pcs per
m², MRG has the highest
density of the sites under
regular surveillance.
The precipitous drop in
quantity of litter found on
January 19, 2016 could be
attributed to the results of
our sustained efforts, cold
weather, or wave events
removing the material.
Increased cooperation with
the commune is needed to
better analyze the fluctua-
tions.
Cigarettes
34%
Foam
19%
Plastic pieces
10%
Bottles/pieces
5%
All else
32%
Top four categoriesof trash found
Montreux rive gauche
November 2015 - January 2016
68% of the items found can
be attributed to 4 categories :
1. Cigarettes
2. Foam
3. Pieces of plastic
4. Bottles or broken glass.
The rest of the litter found
(32%) is spread out among 55
other categories.
Download
Data

13. 13
Individual results: Montreux rive droite
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
2015-12-04
2015-12-10
2015-12-17
2016-01-07
2016-01-19
Movingaverage
Totalpiecescollectedperday
Daily totals and average
Montreuxrivedroite
November 2015 - January 2016
Daily total Average
Cigarettes
50%
Plastic pieces
6%
Bottles/pieces
5%
Bottle caps/lids
5%
All else
34%
Top four categoriesof trash found
Montreux rive droite
November 2015 - January 2016
1’405 pieces of trash were
removed in five operations
from Montreux rive droite
(MRD). With a maximum
density of 2.01pcs per m²,
MRD has the lowest density
of the sites under regular
surveillance.
The precipitous drop in
quantity of litter found on
December 17, 2015 could
be attributed to the in-
creased efforts of the com-
mune.
Increased cooperation with
the commune is needed to
better analyze the fluctua-
tions.
76% of the items found can be
attributed to 4 categories :
1. Cigarettes
2. Plastic pieces
3. Bottles or broken glass
4. Bottle caps
The rest of the litter found
(24%) is spread out among 43
other categories.
Download
Data

14. 14
Foam
39%
Pieces of plastic
17%
Cigarettes
7%
Cotton swabs
6%
All else
31%
Top four categoriesof trash found
Baye de Clarens
November 2015 - January 2016
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
24.11.2015
02.12.2015
08.12.2015
16.12.2015
06.01.2016
13.01.2016
23.01.2016
Movingaverage
Totalpiecescollectedperday
Daily totals and average
Clarens
November 2015 - January 2016
Total Average
1’880 pcs of trash were
removed in seven oper-
ations from the Baye de
Clarens. With a maximum
density of 3.92pcs per m²,
The Baye de Clarens has
the second highest densi-
ty of the sites under regu-
lar surveillance.
The sharp increase for the
last two weeks of January
is attributed to wave ac-
tion that deposited pre-
viously submerged waste
onto the beach.
The weather data needed
to verify this has yet to be
disclosed.
69% of the items found can be
attributed to 4 categories :
1. Foam
2. Plastic pieces
3. Cigarettes
4. Cotton swabs
The rest of the litter found
(31%) is spread out among 60
other categories.
Download
Data
Individual results: Baye de Clarens

15. 15
Foam
37%
Bits of plastic
8%Cigarettes
8%
Plastic Sheeting
6%
All else
41%
Top four categoriesof trash found
La Veveyse
November 2015 - January 2016
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
27.11.2015
01.12.2015
07.12.2015
14.12.2015
08.01.2016
15.01.2016
21.01.2016
Movingaverage
Totalpiecescollectedperday
Daily totals and average
La Veveyse
November 2015 - January 2016
Total Average
1’026 pcs of trash were
removed in seven oper-
ations from La Veveyse.
With a maximum densi-
ty of 2.23 pcs per m², La
Veveyse the third highest
density of the sites under
regular surveillance.
The quantities of litter
found on the beach seem
to have leveled off over
the past month.
59% of the items found can be
attributed to 4 categories :
1. Foam
2. Plastic pieces
3. Cigarettes
4. Plastic sheeting
The rest of the litter found
(41%) is spread out among 57
other categories.
Download
Data
Individual results: La Veveyse

16. 16
We fight against the pollution
in the lake because water is
our greatest natural resource.
www.plagespropres.ch
info@plagespropres.ch
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