One of my BFFs in the whole world recently was interviewed for a piece on the California Academy of Sciences "Science in Action." She's a pretty amazing person and scientist and I am so proud of her for getting out there and trying to make a difference in the world through her research.
I've embedded the interview at the bottom of this post because it's great. And, the guy who was also interviewed is awesome...he's used thousands of plastic bottles to build a boat and plans on heading out to sea to bring publicity to the plastic garbage inundating our oceans. Brilliant stuff!
Another amazing friend, Auntie W, inspired me to start putting aside all of the plastic that we incidentally buy as we go through life. You know what I'm talking about: those plastic things that are not recycleable like: plastic lids, ridiculously huge plastic molded inserts to keep a stupid headset in place (when cardboard would work just fine), plastic coated paperboard to showcase different types of hardware...that kind of stuff. The incredible part of this experiment is that I've become intensely aware of how much plastic I consume unintentionally "on the side." I had no idea!
Though Boulder has a pretty incredible recycling program I think the biggest impact you can have is to not consume plastic in the first place. Recycling is great but avoiding the excess plastic and packaging is better. Obviously we can't go completely plastic-free simply because so many companies use it since it's so cheap. But if we each make a concerted effort to choose a product that is not overpackaged in plastic vs. one that is, I think we, as consumers, can make a difference. Especially if we let the companies know what guided our decision :)
At least I hope so. If there's one thing I believe in life it's that one person CAN make a difference and I hope I always believe that :)
Please watch this...it's a really interesting and enlightening piece!
Plastics in our Oceans from Science in Action on Vimeo.
Great information here. Go Myra! It breaks my heart to know that we have special places in our world that are flotillas of plastic and to hear the impact of that on our ecosystem =(
Posted by: wooofwhinnywhisper | July 14, 2009 at 11:10 AM
Thanks for that!
I noticed in 1986 while on the east coast of Canada and upper US the amount of plastic in the ocean was terrible. I was in a place where currents apparently helped floating plastic gather. Having spent many summers on the eastern shores, it was really noticable. As kids we would see things wash up on shore, but mostly wooden, sometimes nets, etc., but very little plastic. I hope this research take hold, we should maintaim our reverence for the ocean as well as on land.
Thanks again smrpie, ....a real eye opener!
Posted by: NinjaPonyDad | July 13, 2009 at 08:01 AM