This year... I'm going to keep on keeping on with that Life Resolution, my cigarette butt litter project (including getting The Bait Tank's installed on Wrightsville Beach) and plastic-free food. But it's not going to end there. Nope. I'm also going to make some commitments right here right now:
1. Join of Surfrider. (Done! My husband just joined!)
2. Collect our plastic waste EVERY week for 2011 and share it on "My Plastic Free Life" (the blog formerly known as Fake Plastic Fish) for the Show Your Plastic Challenge. I'm hoping that by showing off our plastic waste for 52 weeks, that we'll have lots of epiphanies on how to reduce our plastic usage!!! (This will start on Sunday January 2.)
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| This is our plastic waste from December 19-25, 2010 |
4. Become one of Wallace J. Nichols 100 Blue Angels to allow him to have one true employer-- the ocean.
Oh yeah... and I'm totally going to learn how to surf. ;)
I'm going to learn to surf this year, too. I swear!
ReplyDeleteI suppose it wouldn't be so bad if everyone would collect and recycle or reuse their plastic bags?
ReplyDeleteI'm a huge fan of the reusable grocery bag.
Same purpose as plastic bags.
More durable.
Reusable.
And they last forever.
Four more weeks and I'll be down there. Hopefully with some free time to do a clean up of my own!
Hey Jennifer!! 4 more weeks!! Wow!! We'll have to meet at the beach for a clean up!! Checked out your Etsy store... pretty soon it'll say Wilmington, NC... and that'll make you local!!! I may have to put in a special request soon.
ReplyDeleteGlad you're a reusable bag girl. You put "??" so I'm feeling like I should share ;)
Each year, approximately 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide. That’s over one million bags per minute. (That means they're not being reused.) Billions of them end up as litter each year. Plastic bags blow... so that means they go anywhere they please. Whether on land or water... they are a serious threat to wildlife through entanglement, suffocation, ingestion... etc. (boo!!)
Unfortunately, when it comes to plastic... recycling is not a solution... there are many reasons for this:
1.) The cost to recycle plastic bags is far more expensive than it is to make new plastic bags. (Doing the right thing isn't what's important... making $$ is.)
2.)bags that are recycled are primarily bailed and sent across the ocean to Asian countries for incorporation into plastic products.
3.) Plastic isn't really "recycled"... instead it's "downcycled"... meaning that they experience a noticeable loss of quality when they are reprocessed so they have to be made into lesser grade products.
4.) Since every time plastic gets "downcycled"... it's quality keeps going down... therefore plastics can't be "recycled" over and over again... so their end life will be disposal... landfill. :(
If you want to learn more:
I highly recommend watching the film "Bag It."
Here's a really good blog post: http://myplasticfreelife.com/2010/11/the-truth-about-america-recycles-day/
Also, check out this post that my friend Bonnie wrote about a fox that they saved from a plastic bag here in Wilmington: http://theplasticocean.blogspot.com/2010/10/letting-fox-out-of-bag.html
If you haven't seen Chris Jordan's artwork, check out his site: http://www.chrisjordan.com
Haha... I didn't think that I was going to write that much!! Guess this is practice for that #5 goal for the New Year!! (Thanks!!)
Great list! Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteJust took on the same plastic tally challenge. Also you totally inspired to do my very small, but a start to pick up plastic at the beach. so excited to have found you.
ReplyDelete