Balloon Debris Isn't Litter? Wildlife Disagrees, and so Do We!

In Virginia, though a balloon would be considered litter if it were thrown from a car window, if up to 50 of them are purposely released, they are not considered litter. We began the discussion about balloons and the dangers they pose to the environment and wildlife last year when the issue of balloons as litter went before our local city legislature. Though this bill was passed at a local level, due to the Dillon Rule, it must now go to the state level for approval, and it needs continued support. Bill SB1107 has being introduced by Sen. Jeff McWaters and is currently awaiting a vote in the Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources Committee. Considering the danger that these balloons, their strings, and other accessories can pose to wildlife, Lynnhaven River NOW strongly supports the ban on balloon releases. Find out who your legislator is here, and let them know that you support banning intentional balloon releases.

http://balloonsblow.org/photo-gallery/guillemot

You can find more information about the bill here.

There is more information regarding each side of the issue available at these sites:

• Balloons Blow... Don't Let Them Go! 
• The Balloon Council 

http://balloonsblow.org/photo-gallery

Blog composed by Trista Imrich, Pearl Homes Coordinator, Lynnhaven RIver NOW

Plastic Wasteland

Last week, an endangered 45-foot sei whale made the local news. Unfortunately, it was not good news. Several days after the New York Times had published an article titled, "Choking the Oceans with Plastic," this sei whale was discovered to have a 3"x5" broken plastic DVD case lodged in its stomach (find that article here). 

(photo credit: Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center)

The female sei whale was thin and there was no food found in her stomach. To think that a 45-foot behemoth beauty such as this could be brought down by such a small bit of plastic! It is no stretch of the imagination to think of the detriment to other species in an ocean plagued by plastic covering 40% of its surface, or 25% of the entire earth.

(photo credit: strangesounds.org)

As of yet, there is no viable solution to clearing these giant plastic garbage gyres covering our oceans. The best solution still remains prevention. People must understand that their garbage and trash must go somewhere, and too often, that somewhere is into the water, through their storm drain (either blowing there or washing there by water), by blowing or washing directly to roadside waterways, or from beaches. (I remain amazed by the number of solo cups and cigarette butts I routinely find scattered on my morning beach walks!) 

(photo credit: motherjones.com)

Unfortunately, some of the trash we find strewn about may be entirely unintentional, escaping from tipped trash cans, overflowing trash trucks, and unsealed garbage bags. Therefore, the most important form of prevention is avoiding all this waste in the first place. "Refuse" is rapidly gaining acceptance as the "4th R"-- "Refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle." Do not accept excess disposable materials in the first place by using reusable bags (for produce and bulk food as well as bagging your groceries), bottles, and containers. (Most restaurants will even use your container for leftovers, if you bring one, avoiding styrofoam and plastic waste!). Get creative, and you'd be amazed how much extra trash you can prevent from ever entering the system. 

(photo credit: sustainableisgood.com)

When having items shipped, or purchasing new items from the store, provide feedback to the shipper or manufacturer regarding their packaging. Following public outcry regarding excessive shipping waste (example above), Amazon.com now requests packaging feedback.

Of course, for the trash that does escape or end up in our waterways, Lynnhaven River Now conducts monthly river cleanups (2nd Saturday of most months) at various locations in the watershed. Find more information about getting involved in an upcoming cleanup on our website-- lrnow.org or hold your own cleanup!

Please share your ideas for reducing waste in the comments!

Posted by Trista Imrich

No Butts About it... Cigarettes are Bad News for the River!

Keep Your Butts Out of the Lynnhaven!

How many times have you seen a curb, parking lot, or beach littered with cigarettes? Many people don't see cigarettes as pollution or trash. They believe that they are biodegradable, and will eventually disappear into the environment. However, even though cigarette filters, or "butts," may look like cotton, they are made of something called cellulose acetate, a type of plastic!  

On average, it takes anywhere from 18 months to 10 years for a cigarette filter to biodegrade, depending on environmentals. 

  

Environmental impact

In addition to plastic materials, cigarette filters release the toxic chemicals they are designed to collect from cigarette smoke into the environment.  These chemicals get washed into nearby waterways and can impact macroinvertebrate populations, which ultimately disrupt entire food webs.  These filters are also eaten by larger organisms like fish and birds that mistake them for food.  Additionally, littered cigarette filters can start wildfires and cause massive ecological and economic damage.   

What can we do to solve this problem?

The simple solution is to start disposing of these filters properly.  While there are less ashtrays around these days, smokers can use a pocket ashtray.  You can get yours FREE HERE

There are also some new cigarette filter repurposing programs out there.  The Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company collects cigarette filters, and other cigarette material from the public to make various plastic products like ashtrays and shipping pallets.  You can find out more about this and sign yourself up here.  Another new and exciting potential use for these filters was discovered recently by scientists in South Korea.  They have converted the filter plastic into a material to be used in various electronic devises. You can read about this research here.

There is still time to turn this problem around.  Become part of the solution--no butts about it!   

Written by Clint Boaz, Edited by Trista Imrich

Timely "Trash Talk" in the News

Just in time for this weekend's "Be Kind with Your Line" River Cleanup, the Bay Journal published an article regarding... TRASH!

Leslie Middleton talks about 3 recently released reports: Virginia's 2013 Solid Waste Report, a report from Science magazine, and a UN Environment Programme report. Each of these discuss the vast amounts of garbage and debris that we are producing (Virginia landfills received roughly 15million tons of garbage from Virginia and just over 5 million tons from other municipalities), and where the rest of the debris is ending up.

Science Magazine is concerned that the plastic debris is disappearing! We produce 300 million tons of plastic every year--.1% of that ends up washing into waterways, or 300,000 tons/yr. A recent study only accounted for around 40,000 tons of plastic in the ocean, at the most. That means 99% of the plastic debris is likely breaking down into small particles, which are, in turn, being eaten by marine animals... that's a lot of plastic in our marine animals, many of which may be harvested for food!

The last article estimates theat the financial damage of plastics to our ecosytems is around $13 billion/year.

Trash (particularly plastic trash) is no joke! Participate in one of our cleanups (2nd Saturday of every month), or organize your own, and encourage others not to litter, or better yet, to minimize plastic trash from the beginning by refusing disposable plastic items when possible.

(Photo from Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center Washed Ashore Exhibit)

You can find the original Bay Journal article here- http://www.bayjournal.com/blog/post/three_new_reports_talk_trash

Posted by Trista Imrich, Pearl Homes Coordinator, LRNow