Thursday, January 6, 2011

Day 183 - Jan. 5, 2011

lifeguard tower 26 - Ocean Park, Santa Monica CA
trash collected for 20 minutes
1 pound
709.6 pounds total

Community Count Day 107 - Heather, Mark and Jon
trash collected for 20 minutes
1.4 pounds
661.8 pounds total

Thank you to my friends for coming out with me last night!
Find them all online here:


I've been stalling on this post because I know what I want to write about, and it is making me uneasy.

An article came out yesterday in Science Daily, "Oceanic 'Garbage Patch' Not Nearly as Big as Portrayed in Media" This article highlights Angelicque "Angel" White's research, an assistant professor of oceanography at Oregon State.

As I push myself to formulate a response to this article, which I strongly urge all of those interested in the topic to do so, I find that I need more time to sift through the information presented, and my own feelings about it. There will be a "part two" to this in Day 184 later in the week.




Harry's back at it with breaking down "the Recycling Myth" Read on to learn many facts that have previously escaped most of us about the truth of plastic and how "recyclable" it really is.

"Here is the truth: It's a downward spiral. There is no end to it, other than in the fires of an incinerator. We pat our backs when we take that old Coke bottle and put it in the recycling bin. But its fate is solely to move on, and down, until it winds up in the ocean, lays dormant for millennia under a capped landfill, or dies in a raging fire.

As it (#1 PET plastics) spirals downward, much of it will end up fouling the rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, shores, and oceans we hold dear. No matter our best intentions.

Just like the recycled piece I picked up on December 29. Do you think the person who recycled it the first time envisioned where it would end up?" - The Flotsom Diaries

Clearly someone lost their smokes. Bummer. Those things are expensive! I'm kidding. But as an ex-smoker I have to admit it pained my heart just a tiny bit to see this mostly full pack strewn on the sand on our way back to the parking lot.

Mark was walking next to me, and since he is the mastermind behind The Bait Tank, I thought I would share Save Our Shore's PSA on Mark's Bait Tanks. Save Our Shores is an organization in Capitola, CA who have installed The Bait Tank cigarette depositories along their beaches and seen drastic reduction in cigarette liter.

Look for them soon on the Santa Monica Pier! Contact Mark if you would like them to come to your town.



Save Our Shores Bait Tanks PSA from Derek Dockendorf on Vimeo.