plastic bottles

You have to read this. Especially you folks who voted against plastic bag fees in cities like Seattle, or watched the Big Chemical lobby  move the debate in your city's or state's debate over plastic bottles or bags. Or don't think it matters if you buy your takeout in those Styrofoam clam shells. Jeez. I thought the giant the roiling island of plastic debris out in the Pacific was the size of Texas. Turns out it's TWICE the size of Texas. And that's not all, reports Paul Rogers in the San Jose Mercury News this morning.

California researchers, just back from a research trip, have found that the plastic from bottles, bags and many, many other plastic objects, broken down into such tiny particles that they are not even visible from satellites, are being eaten by tiny jellyfish. And salmon and tuna eat the jellyfish. Hmm. Guess who eats the salmon and tuna? And guess what the plastic contains? Toxic chemicals, including now-banned DDT and PCBs. The research was the most extensive look yet at the garbage patch, located about 1,000 miles north of Hawaii.

"Every day, every night, we'd pull up samples and pour the water through a sieve. It would be completely clogged with tiny pieces of plastic," said Margy Gassel, a research scientist with the California Environmental Protection Agency. "It was so disturbing."

Researchers said one solution might be to dramatically increase the use of plant-based, biodegradable plastic and to beef up plastics-recycling programs. Designing storm drains to catch plastic debris also is a possibility.

"We're not talking about a plastic-bag tax," said Doug Woodring, a former Merrill Lynch financier and one of the founders of Project Kaisei.

The drink at the top of menus in Metro Vancouver this fall might be tap water, reports Darah Hansen in the Vancouver Sun. The move is an attempt by the system of regional British Columbia governments to increase the amount of people drinking tap water as opposed to bottled or sparkling, thereby decreasing costs and reducing the number of plastic bottles that end up in landfills every year. Similar programs are appearing around the world in an attempt to make drinking tap water more socially acceptable.

– Emily Linroth