Trash becomes art

A REMOTE SIBERIAN beach once used as a dumping ground for millions of glass bottles has morphed into a tourist attraction following years of the sea’s gentle caressing.

Located on Ussuri Bay, near Vladivostok, the beach was formerly a Soviet dump for old wine, vodka and beer bottles – together with waste from a nearby porcelain factory. Large trucks formed a daily procession, depositing tonnes of glass on the beach.

Apart from the eyesore the debris created, the shards of broken glass also proved a danger to anyone attempting to visit the beach – and it remained off-limits for decades.

Over the years, though, Nature patiently got stuck into the mess. The constant action of the waves has smoothed the broken glass into a vast kaleidoscopic vista of smooth, coloured ‘pebbles’. It’s now called Glass Beach and is protected by Russian authorities as if it was an entirely natural creation – and tourists must pay to visit it.

Known in Russian as ‘Steklyashka’, the beach is perhaps at its most stunning in winter when the snow highlights the vivid colours of the glass.