Getting a scoop on the plastic ocean ocregister.com Take a look at an interesting article we found.
Crew ecstatic, fantastic plastic conquers Pacific Sydney Morning Herald Take a look at an interesting article we found.
Plastic bottle boat completes Pacific voyage CBC News Take a look at an interesting article we found.
I've gone to my farm in Kentucky for the weekend. It's a great place to relax, do a little hard physical labor, and forget about the rest of the world.
If you don't have such a place, I highly suggest you get one.
In the meantime, here's a little something that I found for you to read that calls attention to a problem that runs deep.
See you on Monday.
J. Peterman
From: The Daily Mail
Save our Oceans saveouroceans.info Take a look at an interesting article we found.
Plastics in Our Oceans whoi.edu Take a look at an interesting article we found.
Why is Recycling Important ? buzzle.com Take a look at an interesting article we found.
still thinking about today...
The ultimate recycling project.
Brilliant! Well done those people! The best use I have found for clear plastic bottles is to cut the base off & use them like mini-greenhouses for new seedlings planted out in the garden. - O, and the one in the back of the car for little boys who want a wee-wee NOW!!!
The sawn-off top end of a plastic bottle makes a handy disposable funnel, the bottom end is a useful receptacle for more or less anything & should be disposed of, or, like me you'll end up with a garden shed-full of plastic containers of odds & sods & despite knowing you have some spare curtain hooks somewhere in there, it's just easier to get some new ones.
HAZEL: In answer to yesterday's Question; Not the least bit Psychic ... just remember the first time I was ever exposed to those things we were talking about, and remember the smells of 'em ... and the Stinkhorn Algae is exactly what they smelled like, to me ... I just happened to remember it ....... Sorry about your Rude Garden ... and you know, that the Stinkhorn will foul your Poseys awfully ...
Recycling proved to be a big money maker for some until they got caught. http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_15023487
I have very little garbage, so I only need to put the can out once a month at the most, because I recycle or compost almost everything. I'm billed for trash pick-up whether I have trash or not....and that's for three cans...one for trash, one for recyclables and one for garden/yard trimmings..
One store I like is Trader Joe's, but what I don't like is everything is prepackaged which means a lot of waste. Individual wrappers are very nice, but too wasteful....most aren't biodegradable. We have to start thinking environmentally.... my opinion only.
Talk about plastic bags and bottles that should have been recycled but weren't!
http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-07/dutch-architects-want-turn-pacific-garbage-patch-green-island-paradise
Hi Ivan, Hazel and Julia....top o the morning to you.
lotlot, yesterday you were wondering if posters at the Eye were going without sleep because we're posting at all hours of the day and night. ...well, I think it's because some of us are in different time zones....at least I haven't been able to go without sleep since I was young and could party all night....so really I can only speak for myself....I'm in Calif.
JaneJ78: Some of us have professions where sometimes an emergency happens in the middle of the night, and a response is necessary, even if it's only a sleepy phone response to someone's concerned parent or "significant other" that I'll take care of it 1st thing in the morning. Then diverse & virtual friends can be a resource, to help us pump our self-confidence back up, mental preparation to once again try to do what it is we do that somehow helps others transition to a better place.....this place can be a reassuring oasis, reminding us that somehow everything will be just fine.
MISS JANE: Good to see your hand ... and glad I ran thru the pages again before turning in ... just fixin on going to bed ... Been Re-Cycling some Cold Shiner Beer, while eating a Bushel Basket of Popcorn with lotsa Butter, Sea Salt, and Cayenne ...
Y'all have a Great Day, an I'll see ya later !!!
Just a thought, MISS JANE ....... Can y'all still get, Rhino Chaser's out there ??? The Peach is my favorite .......
O, poor Bert! Those 2.30 AM 'phone calls - what do they expect you to DO at that hour? I quit a job where I was down as an "Appropriate Adult" & the little darlings never got into trouble at a reasonable hour, so I'd be out half the night sorting them out & still be expected to do the day job. I live close to the sea & the day after an extra-high tide, we ask for volunteers to litter-pick the high tide line along the beaches. It's nice to see young adults who I remember as kids in trouble doing a bit of citizenship & I confess to being a bit pleased with myself: When they told me they were in trouble "'coz there's nuffin' else 2 do" .... inviting them to spend a day with me litter-picking - & they got hooked! I think the beach bonfire & barbie at the end of the day is a good incentive .... some of them bring their kids along to help & we now have a big 'Elf 'n Safetey debate, which is semi-resolved by giving the little ones red flags to plant where they find a syringe & leave it for an adult to pick up. The young ones got the message when we made it into a War Game- syringe is a land-mine & you put up a red flag for the bomb disposal team to deal with it. Funny world we live in......
We use plastic milk jugs to carry water to our container plants and hanging flower baskets. When the plastic jugs spring a leak we recycle them.
lotlot - re yesterday's comment that The Eye never sleeps. I'm in Australia and on the average am 14 -15 hours ahead of most of you in mid-America. So while most of you are about to have your morning cuppa, now about 8.30 am Saturday morning, I'm sitting here in my jammies hitting the keyboard at 10.30 pm Saturday evening. And oh! btw, while most of you are waking to another day of sweltering heat, its winter here. I live in the southermost state of Tasmania, which is a key jumping off point globally for explorations to the Antartica but because of the mediating influence of the waters, winter is mild here. At the moment, its about 50 F; it hardly snows except in the mountain.
Recycling - strictly speaking, what does it mean to each of us? At its simplest level, there is the re-use of a material, like what Hazel and lotlot do with plastic bottles in the gardens. Though nice and well-intentioned, I'm not sure that really qualifies as recycling. There is the salvage of certain materials, typically commodities with intrinsic value (lead, gold, mercury etc). But to be pedantic, recycling of a material should produce a fresh output of the same material, eg paper. Unfortunately, this is often more expensive, difficult and more energy intensive to produce than using original raw materials. I don't have an answer to today's problem; it is a concern that is best erred on the side of caution. However, my guess is that just as certain groups benefit financially most from climate change concerns, certain groups are also benefitting financially from this issue.
There is a video to cover that article at the top on Plastics in the Ocean, it is a real worry.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxNqzAHGXvs&feature=PlayList&p=D081742881A773E8&playnext=1&index=3
Off topic: Yesterday while out of town I got lucky and found NPR story online, "Get Low," which is the title of Director/Actor Robert Duval's new movie, also featuring my favorite, Bill Murray. It deals with the issues of death & dying in a very creative & entertaining way, and Duval (who was the "Boo" in "To Kill a Mocking Bird" in 1962) draws comparisons between his roles in both Get Low and Mockingbird, gently suggesting how we can form our own lessons life by joining him and wrapping our heads around the combined movie experience.....
Spring Fragrance~ That video is scary. I do take most of my plastic to the recycling place, and my cans & any "dead" electrical goods & batteries & car engine oil & paper. The plastics we gather on the beach are recycled. The only good thing to be said for plastic drink bottles is that it's now rare to find broken glass on the beach.
I think I'm 5 hours ahead of Eye time - it's nice to see you during "my" daytime!
Back in the day, when use of the word “biodegradable” was picking up steam, some TV news people on a panel show were discussing it.
Eventually, one panel member used the word “non-biodegradable.”
Another panel member asked him to define “non-biodegradable.”
He made a few attempts, finally shrugged and said:
“That means it won’t rot.”
Waiting for a train, I was wathching the pigeons that inhabit the station platrform. One had several toes missing & was hobbling around hunting for what? she was ignoring food - she was in search of ring-pulls from drinks cans & had created a nest constructed of the things up in the girders that supported the station canopy. Her missing toes were probably due to this strange choice of nesting material. I remarked on this to a fellow traveller who told me he used that station every day & was mortified that he was so wrapped up in his own thoughts he'd never noticed the bird. I was just passing through, but he said he'd look out for her & feed her.
Atta
Boy! I can hear it now- Plastiki...Captain's Log Seadate 7.31.2010. -Recycling ingenuity
will have us going (in William Shatner vernacular) "where no recycler
has gone before."
Thor Heyerdahl used recycled trees
On the campus of KU there is a beautfiful water fountain--circular with arches of water all around from a central flow. Our winters can get pretty cold so it gets turned off for the season. A couple of years ago I was driving by and thought there were arches of ice glistening in the sun...and I almost ran off the road gaping at the beauty of it. Amazingly, the "ice arches" were recycled bottles. It really was a beautiful display and way to recycle.
I have seen reports of puppets being made out of recycled plastic bottles.
I have cut off the tops and used the tops for funnels.
I have put water in them, frozen the water and used the frozen bottles to chill soft drinks in tubs.
What creative uses have you folks seen for plastic bottles?
And let's not forget the plastic bottle caps. What uses have you found for them?
Carol, I would like to have seen that KU winter scene.
Colour mmy outlook jaundiced on this topic. I just can't fathom enough creative uses for discarded plastic bottles, cups, bags, packaging and shipping materials to make a dent in the waste that is spreading like a plague of locusts across the planet.
Until consumer behaviors change, i.e., not purchasing food, drink and other stuff packaged in plastics, as well as taking added precautions as to we dispose of what we use.......manufacturers and distributors will continue to be incented to keep producing and using more and more of this stuff.
I cringe when I think of the famous....or perhaps infamous dialogue from the movie The Graduate.....
I can barely remember a time when I was able to take a drive out in the country without seeing the otherwise gentle, idyllic view nipped in the bud by tree limbs, shrubs and fences with wind blown plastic bags stuck to them.
The tags from lobster pots on the Eastern seaboard of the USA get washed up on the Western beaches of the UK. We know this because they have a telephone number on them. It's courtesy of the Gulf Stream. So, presumably, we get your plastic bottles too!
RoadYacht~ It's years since I read the book, but I think Thor Heyadahl's KonTiki was mostly made from bundled together papyrus stems & the design was a sort of catamaran. What a crazy thing to cross the ocean in.
lotlot~ Those square plastic milk containers - the ones with a little carrying handle built in? A bit of creativity with the kitchen scissors & you can make scoops for .... well, whatever you need scoops for. I have never thought up a useful use for plastic bottle tops except as substitutes for a couple of missing pieces on my old chequers board -
Peter Lake~ is right to complain of plastic bags littering the countryside. They were banned some years ago in the Republic of Ireland & it made such a difference! However, the farmers, who should know better, have adopted this big round-bale harvesting system & the harvest is wrapped in plastic ..... which they fail to dispose of properly, so the trees & hedgerows are still festooned with tattered polythene.
And I WILL persist in being a cranky old lady & reprimand other peoples children for dropping litter in the street!
hazel leese, scoops are good.
chequers -- checkers -- too.
We didn't used to have plastic bags, we had paper bags -- for what we shopped for. Then it became the 8th Deadly Sin to have paper bags which while they are (now) made mostly of recycled paper, they take about a year or so to rot in the landfill. So, the wizards who decide what's wrong and less wrong and more right said "Shoppers should have plastic bags." So now we have plastic bags, because they only take a gazillion years to rot in the landfills. I know, yes I do, that we should all tote a tote to put our stuff into, and I do, but when I don't, and I get asked the question "paper or plastic today?" at the checkout counter -- I guess they should be asking "would you like to shoot yourself in the left foot or the right foot today?" ... know what I'm saying?
I'm a bit worried about the tote bag I got from my local supermarket. It has printed on it BAG FOR LIFE & I'm not sure how long it will last.
hazel..... fight the good fight! Children I can at least understand..... its the great volume of parents that litter that need to be dealt with. Someone must always step up to the plate to teach the children wel.... especially by example.
Hazel~ the dept of ERRgriculture is with you on this matter: i.e. those large rolls of hay and sillage wrapped in poly. They are demanding the old way prevail; bales! Seems with those rolls, the Cows aren't gettig a square meal
PARK4~ Not only did we used to have paper bags, we used them again - my Mom would keep them to put our packed lunches in etc. When they got too tatty, they'd be torn up & mixed in with the vegetable waste for the compost heap. The greaseproof paper that was the inner lining of Cereal packets was kept for baking day, parcel string was always carefully untied & put in the string box - whatever happened to thrift?
Did anybody else shudder when they first saw recycled toilet paper on the supermarket shelves?
RoadYacht~ That was funny ..... pull the udder one!
You know....it's just crazy..like Park4 says paper or plastic, shoot right foot or left....and now "they" say those reusable totes actually harbor nasty germs. So...whatcha' gonna' do? and lotlot it was truly beautiful glistening in the sun just like ice. Roadyacht...as usual you crack me up....your levity and humor are like rays of sunshine.
Hazel, Carol...I make shopping totes out of 100% organic cotton twill remnants. I put big pockets on the outside and on some totes, a smaller pocket or two on the inside. My son silkscreens the bags with his designs...from Jimi Hendrix, Curtis Mayfield ( a couple of my favorites) to bamboo or coastal scenes...each bag is original. I always have several on the door knob or in my car ready for the farmers' market or the grocery store or any other kind of shopping. I sell them at the local market. They're very reusable and since they're washable I don't think they harbor any nasty germs.
Ivan, I'm not familiar with Rhino Chasers other than the ones looking for monster waves. We do have some world class surfing competitions here. If you're talking beer, until drinking that 1st BUL, I didn't drink beer for a good 30 years, so if I ever had one, I don't remember. I'll check it out.
janej78---------I'M not saying reusable totes are bad--"they" are saying.....all I'm saying is, you're......ok, you can't win for losing on this one................on our Botswana safari we saw so many wonderful pristine beautiful sights. And I truly believe that we saw the Garden of Eden. Then we crossed into Zambia.....as we "toured" from the port of entry dock to our last stop one of our fellow travelers (Keith) with a sense of humor like Roadyacht's quipped in exact tour guide-ese...."...and here we have the lovely plastic bag trees of Zambia...." and it was too sadly true. Every tree and bush had caught dozens of the plastic demons as they scurried about in traffic-created breezes. And now they were coated in dust and hung there as a very sad edifice to "modernity."
janej78~ Your bags sound great. As for the germs thing, people should develop a decent immune system. My Dad would say when Mom was in a panic 'cos we'd been up the garden eating mud pies or something "You have to eat a peck of dirt before you die" A peck is an old-fasioned measure that's about a bucketfull. "They" say that the increase in childhood asthma & allergies is due to us being TOO hygenic .... left foot or right foot bullet?
Oooops, forgot, janej78,~ regards to your son. Having worked for a while as an industrial silk screen printer, knocking out 1,000 hand printed sheets of ceramic transfers a day, and washing the screens out with evil solvents afterwards .... long may his squeegee blade stay sharp!
Carol, sorry, I read that you wrote "they"...and thought my post was just responding to the germ angle...because my bags are washable. Some of the recylcled plastic/paper bags you can get at the stores like Whole Foods and Trader Joes do get rather nasty after a few reuses.
Hazel, I agree that antibodies are built up from indulging in a little mud pie or the like...or at least not being too antiseptic....a little dirt is okay. ( a peck is pushing it..haha) I'm sure my outlook is rather naive, but I've managed to avoid the flu for over 30 years, so I must be doing something right..
RoadYacht, sorry but i cannot retrieve your private message. I have not been able to read any private messages. Have tried all suggestions several times, including those from the Eye techs. Nothing works.
lotlot, don't stop posting, you have a lot to offer. Somebody has to eventually be able to help you with your technical problem.
Hazel--you sound like you've done/experienced just about everything there is! I can't imagine what your resume/biography would read like.....
Carol~ The last CV I wrote had the sentence "Tied a broom to my backside so I could sweep up as I went along" - I think my affinity with cats is the 9 lives thing - I've certainly packed in a lot of experiences & a variety of jobs.
lotlot~ Just sent you a message - the Eye messenger is recognising your name - what are you seeing on the screen when you open the message page?
MISS JANE: Back in the Mid-90's RHINO CHASERS made its way to Houston, and was available at, SPEC'S Warehouse Liquors (a most fabulous selection of any beverage desired) ... I'm guessing the California Micro-Brewers took the name from the aura of the Surfers who did in fact chase those Monster Waves ... but it was an exceptionally Fine Wheat Beer, that was flavored with Peaches or Raspberries, and regardless of how many were consumed, the flavor never cloyed ... Phenomenally Good Beer ....... Just haven't seen it in a long while, and wondered if they might still be around ... I hope so ... Both Flavors are marbelous ... Peach just happens to be my favorite flavor ... prolly a Genetic leftover from the time my Family spent in their Second stop, after landing in South Carolina in 1641AD ... Second Stop was, Savannah ... Fresh Peaches on Savannah Beach are quite tasty, with the flavor teased by the Salt Air ...
MARBELOUS??? MARVELOUS .......
IVAN........ I like marbelous...............
I like marbelous almost as much as I like raspberries and peaches!
What a relief! I have been waiting all day for elucidation on Rhino Chasers & if Paolos was around, we'd be getting Too Marbelous For Words.
I'm off to bed now, unless some angel appears with a bowl of rasperries & peaches.
hazel leese, just bought peaches at the farmers market today. They are grown within an hour's drive of where I live. They are at their peak, that is: peachy keen. No local rasberries, however.
Also, received an e-mail informing me you had sent a private message. I am not able to retrieve private messages. Have tried all suggestions, including those from the techs at the Eye. Nothing works. Will keep trying. Really want to read the private messages that have been sent.
Limbic beers - they are strog, and berry flavored. Yum.
lotlot, put your email adress in your bio, and then we can send you mess jus that do not need the secret decoder ring in the special package hand delivered after the interminable wait from the magic town of Battle Creek
BEBE & CAROL: Glad y'all approve ... seeing that Gaffe' made me think of Buddy Hackett, who always sounded like he had a mouth fulla Hot Bird Seed anyway .......
But, I loved his Chinese Waiter Routine .......
Ivan, I like marbelous too and now I just have to go looking for some Rhino Chasers...I have peaches and raspberries in the kitchen at the moment, but they won't last past tomorrow.
MARBELOUS !!! Just Marbelous ....... There was another Wheat Beer out there called, BLACK DOG ... it was good too, but was a little too Sweet for my tastes ...
lotlot~ AAAGGGHHHHH! Computers! just give us your E-mail address. Sometimes, contributors make a comment that touches your heart & it's not appropriate to discuss it on page. It's good to talk with them in private .... in the short time I have been sharing my thoughts on this page, I have made some valuable friends. Don't miss out - it's nice to hear your voice.