Some people have no qualms about discarding a piece of dental floss, a plastic bag, or whatever non-biodegradable trash they want to get rid of. While it is an eyesore along our highways and byways, when it gets into storm sewers and carried out to sea, it assumes a life of its own. An article in the New York Times highlights how serious this problem is. Below is a section from that article and the link to the article itself.
In 2002, Nature magazine reported that during the 1990s, debris in the waters near Britain doubled; in the Southern Ocean encircling Antarctica the increase was a hundredfold. And depending on where they sample, oceanographers have found that between 60 and 95 percent of today’s marine debris is made of plastic.
Plastic gets into the ocean when people throw it from ships or leave it in the path of an incoming tide, but also when rivers carry it there, or when sewage systems and storm drains overflow. Despite the Ocean Dumping Reform Act, the U.S. still releases more than 850 billion gallons of untreated sewage and storm runoff every year, according to a 2004 E.P.A. report. Comb the Manhattan waterfront and you will find, along with the usual windrows of cups, bottles and plastic bags, what the E.P.A. calls “floatables,” those “visible buoyant or semibuoyant solids” that people flush into the waste stream like cotton swabs, condoms, tampon applicators and dental floss.
The Encyclopedia of Coastal Processes, about as somniferously clinical a scientific source on the subject as one can find, predicts that plastic pollution “will incrementally increase through the 21st century,” because “the problems created are chronic and potentially global, rather than acute and local or regional as many would contemplate.” The problems are chronic because, unlike the marine debris of centuries past, commercial plastics do not biodegrade in seawater. Instead, they persist, accumulating over time, much as certain emissions accumulate in the atmosphere. The problems are global because the sources of plastic pollution are far-flung but also because, like emissions riding the winds, pollutants at sea can travel.
For the whole article, go to:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/22/magazine/22Plastics-t.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Monday, June 30, 2008
Thursday, June 12, 2008
When a Walk is More Than a Walk
Okay, we’re all busy, but we can still do something worthwhile—make that two things worthwhile. My multi-tasking of choice has always been to combine a good aerobic walk with something else, whether meaningful conversations with my son or spouse or a good friend, practicing a speech, brainstorming a new article, or, in some cases, picking up trash.
We spend five months a year in the pristine high plains of the Colorado Rockies. Semi-pristine would be more accurate, because where there are people, there is trash. Even here where people live for the majestic mountains and fields of wildflowers, there are idiots who think their little bits of trash won’t hurt anything, or probably don’t think at all.
I have a friend who is like-minded and happens to raise llamas. So our multi-tasking consists of going on long walks with pack llamas outfitted with saddlebags. They get training in packing and we have someone to carry the trash we pick up because there is always too much to carry. Two days in a row, we returned with four saddlebags stuffed with ten bags of trash, which we then sorted into recyclables and trash-trash. Climbing in and out of gullies, along with all the reaching, gave us a great workout, and our “neighborhood” looks a lot better.
In the interest of making this translatable into something you might like to do, we’ll subtract the llamas. When you go out for a walk, which you should do often, take used bags with you and pick up the trash. Everywhere has it. Nobody likes to look at it. Since I’m the plastic bag lady, I snag plastic bag litter and then use it to hold other trash I find. Trash is trash. But don’t count on finding bags. Take some with you. Then remember to recycle as much as possible so we can minimize the impact on landfills. We’re out walking anyway. Let’s include the planet in our outings.
We spend five months a year in the pristine high plains of the Colorado Rockies. Semi-pristine would be more accurate, because where there are people, there is trash. Even here where people live for the majestic mountains and fields of wildflowers, there are idiots who think their little bits of trash won’t hurt anything, or probably don’t think at all.
I have a friend who is like-minded and happens to raise llamas. So our multi-tasking consists of going on long walks with pack llamas outfitted with saddlebags. They get training in packing and we have someone to carry the trash we pick up because there is always too much to carry. Two days in a row, we returned with four saddlebags stuffed with ten bags of trash, which we then sorted into recyclables and trash-trash. Climbing in and out of gullies, along with all the reaching, gave us a great workout, and our “neighborhood” looks a lot better.
In the interest of making this translatable into something you might like to do, we’ll subtract the llamas. When you go out for a walk, which you should do often, take used bags with you and pick up the trash. Everywhere has it. Nobody likes to look at it. Since I’m the plastic bag lady, I snag plastic bag litter and then use it to hold other trash I find. Trash is trash. But don’t count on finding bags. Take some with you. Then remember to recycle as much as possible so we can minimize the impact on landfills. We’re out walking anyway. Let’s include the planet in our outings.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Finding Substitutions for Your Old Plastic Bags
While trying to wean ourselves from plastic shopping bags, we come up on some conundrums: What can we do to replace the plastic bags that we recycle for use at home? If we have no plastic bags, what do we use in their place for other purposes? That’s a snag that my kids and I have grappled with.
1. For instance, my son has two large dogs. When they take them for a walk, they take the used plastic bags along to pick up the doggie poop. Without those, they have to buy poop bags, also plastic. What’s the alternative?
EcoChoices makes a biodegradable poop bag that can be thrown out with yard waste and decomposes completely, eliminating them going to landfills. You can order these bags on their website: http://www.ecoanimal.com/poopbags.html at $7.49 for 50 bags and discounts for larger orders.
2. I line bathroom and kitchen wastebaskets into which we may put wet things, with plastic bags to keep the wastebaskets clean. What should I use instead?
For the tall kitchen wastebasket, EcoChoices also makes a totally biodegradable and compostible kitchen garbage bag. You can order them here: http://www.ecokitchen.com/shop/biodegradablekitchenbags.html 24 bags for $13.99. As far as the bedroom and bathroom wastebaskets, choose a washable surface and just wash them out when you empty them. Even plastic bag liners trap odors, so unless you use a different plastic bag all the time (and where will you get those??) they will not be pleasant.
3. What about toting refrigerated and frozen foods from place to place so they don’t leave wet spots everywhere we put them down?
That’s what your waterproof lining totes are for. After carrying food in them, just sponge them out with warm water and turn wrong-side out to dry.
When is a Walk not Just a Walk?
When it’s a walking trash pick-up. Lots of communities clean up for Earth Day, but what about the other 364 days of the year? Make it a habit once a week to pick up trash and recyclables as your walk. The bending the stretching can be part of your fitness routine and your environment will look a lot better. If someone has discarded a plastic bag, use that to collect the trash and then sort recyclables, including the plastic bag.
1. For instance, my son has two large dogs. When they take them for a walk, they take the used plastic bags along to pick up the doggie poop. Without those, they have to buy poop bags, also plastic. What’s the alternative?
EcoChoices makes a biodegradable poop bag that can be thrown out with yard waste and decomposes completely, eliminating them going to landfills. You can order these bags on their website: http://www.ecoanimal.com/poopbags.html at $7.49 for 50 bags and discounts for larger orders.
2. I line bathroom and kitchen wastebaskets into which we may put wet things, with plastic bags to keep the wastebaskets clean. What should I use instead?
For the tall kitchen wastebasket, EcoChoices also makes a totally biodegradable and compostible kitchen garbage bag. You can order them here: http://www.ecokitchen.com/shop/biodegradablekitchenbags.html 24 bags for $13.99. As far as the bedroom and bathroom wastebaskets, choose a washable surface and just wash them out when you empty them. Even plastic bag liners trap odors, so unless you use a different plastic bag all the time (and where will you get those??) they will not be pleasant.
3. What about toting refrigerated and frozen foods from place to place so they don’t leave wet spots everywhere we put them down?
That’s what your waterproof lining totes are for. After carrying food in them, just sponge them out with warm water and turn wrong-side out to dry.
When is a Walk not Just a Walk?
When it’s a walking trash pick-up. Lots of communities clean up for Earth Day, but what about the other 364 days of the year? Make it a habit once a week to pick up trash and recyclables as your walk. The bending the stretching can be part of your fitness routine and your environment will look a lot better. If someone has discarded a plastic bag, use that to collect the trash and then sort recyclables, including the plastic bag.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
The Power of One--for Good or Bad
Delta Sky Magazine did an excellent piece in their March issue on the power of one: doing something once that can have a profound effect on the environment. Here is an example:
If every newspaper reader in the U.S. recycled just one Sunday paper and all its inclusions, it would generate 212 million pounds of cellulose insulation, enough to insulate 118,767 Habitat for Humanity homes, twice as many homes as Habitat has built in the U.S. so far.
To read more of these thought-provoking statistics, go to:
http://www.delta-sky.com/2008_03/greennumbers/
The idea is to live our lives consciously and think about each thing we do that can have an impact on our world.
If every newspaper reader in the U.S. recycled just one Sunday paper and all its inclusions, it would generate 212 million pounds of cellulose insulation, enough to insulate 118,767 Habitat for Humanity homes, twice as many homes as Habitat has built in the U.S. so far.
To read more of these thought-provoking statistics, go to:
http://www.delta-sky.com/2008_03/greennumbers/
The idea is to live our lives consciously and think about each thing we do that can have an impact on our world.
Friday, May 2, 2008
Walking More and Enjoying It More
I’m walking to a client meeting, my backpack on my back. On the way, I’m stopping to drop off and pick up library books, pick up a few things at the drugstore, and-oh! A movie. No plastic bags involved. Over the winter and spring, I have become very attached to my backpack. It’s a sturdy daypack, really, but lightweight. It allows me to wear a sun or rain-shielding hat, a light jacket, and carry a small umbrella, all with my hands free. When I get to my meeting, I stow the hat and jacket, pull out my portfolio, and I’m all business. Did I mention I got a five-mile walk in the process?
Part of weaning ourselves from plastic bags involves developing new habits. Where in the past, or present for some of us, a meeting, drugstore, video store, etc would have meant three separate car trips, resulting in lots of emissions, wear and tear on our autos as they burn solid-gold fuel, and more of a paunch around our middles. All it takes is some good equipment, and a new routine, one that is planned out in advance to make more efficient use of our time, and to serve double and triple-duty. What errands can you combine? How can you incorporate more biking or walking and less driving? How can you keep backpacks and tote bags convenient so you are never without a reusable bag when you need one? Think about it.
Part of weaning ourselves from plastic bags involves developing new habits. Where in the past, or present for some of us, a meeting, drugstore, video store, etc would have meant three separate car trips, resulting in lots of emissions, wear and tear on our autos as they burn solid-gold fuel, and more of a paunch around our middles. All it takes is some good equipment, and a new routine, one that is planned out in advance to make more efficient use of our time, and to serve double and triple-duty. What errands can you combine? How can you incorporate more biking or walking and less driving? How can you keep backpacks and tote bags convenient so you are never without a reusable bag when you need one? Think about it.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Earth Day is Here!
As people all over the country gear up for Earth Day celebrations, it’s a good time to reflect on our impact on the planet. While we may feel an insignificant part of the whole picture, we make it up in volume. For instance, each person turning off lights in rooms not being used times leventy billion people equals a lot of kilowatt hours saved! Same with water, same with plastic bag litter. Think in terms of the multiplicative effect of many people taking the same actions. Some of the things we can do to get started:
Stop buying bottled water. Sure, you recycle your bottles, but overall, we disposed of 70 million plastic water bottles daily. Fewer than 15% are recycled, and the water isn’t usually of any higher quality than tap water. If you really want to be green, drink tap water from metal reusable bottles. If that’s not possible where you are, refill the plastic one and use it as many times as you can before you recycle it.
Visit http://globalfootprint.org and take the quiz to discover how you are impacting the environment. It’s sobering. http://www.earthday.net/Footprint/info.asp When I took the quiz, it really raised my awareness of how much we consume, compared to the average person on this planet. When, at the end of the quiz, I clicked on what I can do, it took me to this link: http://ww2.earthday.net/plasticbags and guess what: we can quit using plastic bags. (My point exactly!)
So how are you going to get started eliminating plastic bags from your life:
Got through all your drawers and closets and pull out all those canvas tote bags you’ve gotten from conferences over the years. Stuff them all into one and put them in your car; hang a few on a hook by the back door for when you walk to errand. (You DO walk to some errands, don’t you?)
Then ANYTIME you are going to a store of any kind (and yes, that certainly includes Wal-Mart), take your bags in with you. It takes about 3 months to make it an unconscious habit, but YOU CAN DO IT!
There isn’t time to put this off. Visiting environmental websites gives us countless ways we can reduce our impact on this planet, but it has to be a conscious choice, and it requires some effort. So far, we don’t have another planet to move to when this one is trashed. With the technologic and financial resources we have, the impact of our actions will take a while to catch up with us, but it is already catching up with the billions of people on this planet our actions impact. Tropical islands now underwater from rising sea levels, pollution in crowded slums, lack of clean drinking water, drought and crop failures. It’s scary, and it’s happening.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Gearing Up for Earth Day
Earth Day is coming. See the earth we have created and what some countries are doing about it:
In Seattle, using Ireland’s successful plastic bag tax as a model, Mayor Greg Nickels is proposing a 20 cent fee on all disposable bags. This type of fee is the first of its kind in the US. If approved, the charges would go into effect Jan 1, 2009. To launch the new program, the city plans to mail one reusable shopping bag to each household.
According to the Los Angeles Time, as of Oct. 2008, IKEA will no longer offer disposable plastic bags or any disposable bags at checkout. Customers will have the options of bringing their own bag, buying a 59¢ IKEA reusable bag, or going bagless.
Greenpeace has made plastic litter part of their cause: “The very thing that makes plastic items useful to consumers, their durability and stability, also makes them a problem in marine environments. Around 100 million tonnes of plastic are produced each year of which about 10 percent ends up in the sea. About 20 percent of this is from ships and platforms, the rest from land.” To read the story and see the pictures, go to:
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/oceans/pollution/trash-vortex
Reusable Bags has valuable information on the size of the plastic bag problem, as well as some great reusable bags that should wear well for years to come. To check out their most up-to-date news on plastic bag litter, go to: http://reusablebags.typepad.com/
To sign up for their excellent newsletter, go to:
http://visitor.constantcontact.com/email.jsp?m=1011338707104
Africa is starting to react to the huge problem with plastic bag litter in its countries. These bags are produced and then discarded in huge quantities. The bags block drains and sewage systems and can kill livestock who eat them. They spread malaria by holding warm water for mosquitoes to breed in. They choke soil and plants, and leak color additives into food.
According to an article by the Reuters Foundation: "The plastic problem is now on the agenda of almost every African country," says Mebratu, an Ethiopian with an office in a U.N. compound in Nairobi. "The major focus is to promote rational use and disposal of plastic bags." Rwanda and Eritrea have already banned the bags outright, the United Nations says. "Go to the airport in Kigali and if you have a plastic bag, they will confiscate it," Mebratu said. Somaliland, an autonomous and self-declared independent region of Somalia, has taken a similarly draconian measure. To read the whole article, go to: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L20601514.htm
In Seattle, using Ireland’s successful plastic bag tax as a model, Mayor Greg Nickels is proposing a 20 cent fee on all disposable bags. This type of fee is the first of its kind in the US. If approved, the charges would go into effect Jan 1, 2009. To launch the new program, the city plans to mail one reusable shopping bag to each household.
According to the Los Angeles Time, as of Oct. 2008, IKEA will no longer offer disposable plastic bags or any disposable bags at checkout. Customers will have the options of bringing their own bag, buying a 59¢ IKEA reusable bag, or going bagless.
Greenpeace has made plastic litter part of their cause: “The very thing that makes plastic items useful to consumers, their durability and stability, also makes them a problem in marine environments. Around 100 million tonnes of plastic are produced each year of which about 10 percent ends up in the sea. About 20 percent of this is from ships and platforms, the rest from land.” To read the story and see the pictures, go to:
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/oceans/pollution/trash-vortex
Reusable Bags has valuable information on the size of the plastic bag problem, as well as some great reusable bags that should wear well for years to come. To check out their most up-to-date news on plastic bag litter, go to: http://reusablebags.typepad.com/
To sign up for their excellent newsletter, go to:
http://visitor.constantcontact.com/email.jsp?m=1011338707104
Africa is starting to react to the huge problem with plastic bag litter in its countries. These bags are produced and then discarded in huge quantities. The bags block drains and sewage systems and can kill livestock who eat them. They spread malaria by holding warm water for mosquitoes to breed in. They choke soil and plants, and leak color additives into food.
According to an article by the Reuters Foundation: "The plastic problem is now on the agenda of almost every African country," says Mebratu, an Ethiopian with an office in a U.N. compound in Nairobi. "The major focus is to promote rational use and disposal of plastic bags." Rwanda and Eritrea have already banned the bags outright, the United Nations says. "Go to the airport in Kigali and if you have a plastic bag, they will confiscate it," Mebratu said. Somaliland, an autonomous and self-declared independent region of Somalia, has taken a similarly draconian measure. To read the whole article, go to: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L20601514.htm
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