Seaglass is a statement of the sea. The ocean breaks empty bottles thrown carelessly from boats and beaches and through time and tumbling transforms them into something new. 

Seaglass starts out as litter. Wasted glass bottles shatter in the sea. The tide grinds the glass shards against the shore until the surface forms a frosted texture. Seaglass divers grab masks and mesh bags and dive in the break. The tumbled glass churns beneath the waves, sometimes catching the light of the sun through the water. Divers wake at dawn to search for seaglass in the morning sun. They move with the water between the waves, following the glitter of glass, reaching down into the sand before the tide churns again and the seaglass is buried beneath the floor of the ocean.

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After a few hours of diving for seaglass at Ke Iki Beach, I stumbled over a Corona bottle halfway buried in the sand. As I crouched down to lift the trash from the sand I saw the clear glass of a second bottle and then a third. I combed the sand with my feet and found another bottle and another. I called to my two friends who were taking pictures in the sunset. Together we slid our feet beneath the surface of the sand, gently feeling for more garbage. In only a few moments we uncovered nearly a dozen empty and discarded bottles and the black charred remains of a driftwood-fueled bonfire.

We tossed the sand-coated bottles towards our towels on the beach, unsure yet how we would haul it away from the water.

A woman approached us from across the beach with a packet of wet wipes. “I usually keep a bag with me for picking up trash. I am always finding bottle caps and things. I keep the wipes because the trash can be nasty. I don’t have a bag today, but you can have these wipes.” She moved her feet with us  through the sand. 

A second woman came down the beach to help us feel for buried bottles. We found another dozen. She offered us her bag for carrying the litter. Together we combed the beach with our toes, determined not to leave any bottles hidden under the sand. “Thank you girls,” said the second woman. “It really is a community effort.”

“Malama ka ‘aina” said the woman with the wipes. Respect the land.