NEWS AND NOTES
Blue Water Sailing
April 28, 2010
10 Ways To Help Keep Plastic Out Of Our Oceans
You've read about all the scary things out there in our oceans; Somali pirates, rogue waves, but how about the real dangers? Plastic.
Image courtesy of independent.co.uk
Imagine the massive breadth and spread of our great state of Texas. Now imagine every milli-inch of that piled high with trash: bottle caps, cigarettes, cigarette lighters, tampon applicators, plastic nets, discarded flip flops, Frisbees, soda bottles, milk jugs, diapers, six-pack rings, busted tennis rackets, empty pens, shampoo bottles, empty squeeze bottles of jam, you name it. Now take that image, double it, and plunk into the water. That’s what is floating around the eastern corner of a 10-million-square-mile oval known as the North Pacific subtropical gyre. Nicknamed the “Eastern Garbage Patch,” this buoyant stew of toxic pollution—most of which is plastic—is only one of five such garbage heaps caught in the swirling high-pressure currents characteristic of gyres. The others reside in the South Pacific, the North and South Atlantic, and the Indian Ocean. And each year, perhaps unwittingly, each one of us adds to plastic to the heap.
Cruisers and sailors are generally more environmentally aware than landlubbers, but if we're not onboard, we tend to resort to our old comforts and that includes using too much plastic.
Courtesy of oceans.greenpeace.org
Fortunately, a lot of people are taking the plastic crisis seriously. Several countries, for instance, have banned or substantially taxed—or are moving toward doing so—plastic bags. These countries include Bangladesh, China, Ireland, Rwanda, Israel, Canada, Western India, Botswana, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Taiwan, Sweden, Germany and Singapore. Many cities in England have instituted citywide bans, with London recently coming on board; across the Channel, Paris too has joined the ban. In 2007 San Francisco became the first American city to ban plastic shopping bags, with Boston, Portland and Phoenix considering following suit. New York City now requires large stores and retail chains to recycle plastic bags. And trendsetter Whole Foods has banned the use of plastic bags in all 270 of their worldwide stores.
This is all encouraging, but only a drop in the proverbial bucket and there is much we can do without waiting for laws:
Here's what you can do now, to lessen the amount of plastic that ends up in our oceans:
1. Use durable fabric shopping bags;
2. Whenever possible, choose bio-plastics, glass or paper;
3. Pick up plastic you come across while sailing and recycling or dispose of properly;
4. Support environmentally responsible companies who are recycle plastic.
5. Compost and recycle everything you can;
6. Buy in bulk, avoiding smaller containers that will need to be disposed of;
7. Buy less and when you do make a purchase, avoid excessive packaging;
8. Repair whatever goods you can before considering replacing them;
9. If you live near a body of water, volunteer to help clean up the trash;
10. Cut the rings of plastic six-pack holders, which lowers the chances of entanglement with marine animals should that holder make it out to sea.
Turtle caught in plastic ring courtesy Dino Ferri, Audubon Institute
Remember, even if we stopped producing all plastic right this very second there is still 143 years worth of it that has already been produced. Spread the word: many people are unaware of how the choices they’re making and the products they’re purchasing affect the environment. People want this information: it feels good to do the right thing.
From Sailor for the Sea. Read the whole article: http://sailorsforthesea.org/Sailing-and-The-Environment/Ocean-Watch/Ocean-Watch-Essays/Plastics-in-our-Oceans.aspx
http://oceans.greenpeace.org/en/the-expedition/news/trashing-our-oceans/ocean_pollution_animation to see the animated map of the Pacific Gyre by Greenpeace.
