How about you just make permanent, durable stuff outta plastic and not just for instant-trash, convenience-based throw-aways, huh? I mean, work with us here, eh? Instead, they want to dump the responsibility back to us through “increased rates of recovery and recycling of plastics”. On the fleeting bright side of this problem of plastic pollution, DOW suggests that, “the industrial sector has been guilty of “insufficient participation” in finding a solution”. Duh, dooood…(snore, snore…)

This is all in reaction to Mexico’s plastic bag ban, which the plastics industry claims is being poorly managed. Hey, bienvenidos a Mexico, Jorge – maybe planning to avoid the pollution situation that you’ve caused for an entire country should have been thought out before this breaking point, instead of after this “populist measure”, ya think? Get used to “populist measures”, we have them planned all over the globe.

Mexico is feeling the brunt of plastics pollution, and is responding with legislation – perhaps a last resort. But when dealing with an unneighborly adversary like the plastics people, ya gotta do whatcha gotta do…unfortunately, Mexico does not have the infrastructure to recycle (whilst whistling a happy tune, as the plastics industry thinks it happens) the volumes of plastic throw-aways that are foisted upon them by manufacturers, so are attempting to legislate the problem down to controllable levels. Buenas Suerte!

I think we can all agree that the problem lies (literally and figuratively) on the roadside stretches BETWEEN the rest stops. Much like our oceanic gyres, our roadsides are strewn with trash – most of it plastic bags and bottles. I recently spoke at a local city council meeting considering a bag ban and concerned that I lacked evidence for a convincing argument, I counted plastic bags along the 30 mile drive of the I-5 freeway…and was shocked to tally-up 68 bags – and that was just one side of the highway and did not include areas where I had to pay attention to traffic versus counting the “urban tumbleweeds”.

Bottom line, the plastics manufacturers are again encouraging us to fix their problem of the instant waste by recycling their product. Why are items like extremely durable plastic bottles designed for one fleeting use? Answer: $$$$$$$, baaaaby!

I can still remember the days when you returned your glass drink bottles for redemption – and they’d be sterilized and refilled. But now the burden of dealing with the waste receptacle (plastic bottle) has been shifted/dumped into our laps.

Perhaps the ACC should sponsor some Adopt A Highway areas and put their $$$ where their green(back)-washing mouths are, yes? Much better to set a good example, be a good neighbor, turn a good deed, versus touting the tiresome and distracting rest-stop cosmetic make-overs…here’s the phone number (just in case there’s time to call, between trips to the bank): 1-866-ADOPT-A-HWY

How can you not wax nostalgic finding a Monopoly piece amongst the tons of plastic washing ashore? A little green house, instantly recognizable—a poignant reminder of summer days spent in fierce economic battle with your bandit-mogul buddies. The fake bills tucked under the board. The property deeds lined up, waiting to get all the Yellows…waiting for Marvin Gardens. The lowly Baltic Avenue, the posh Park Place. Phrases high on the cliché list—“Get out of jail, free”…”Do not pass Go”…Agony, ecstasy, domination and loss. And how can you not recall that the game was first mass-marketed in the depth of economic crisis? 1935.

A quick web search reveals that Socialists first used the game as a teaching tool early in the 20th Century. First called The Landlord’s Game to show the ravages of unfettered Capitalism—a pleasant surprise to find it was used back then by Scott Nearing. Who, in the 50’s, with his wife Helen, authored Living the Good Life, a dog-eared copy of which lived on my night stand. The Nearings became the gurus of the 60’s back-to-the-land movement, something I took on as a personal mission in a lasting enthusiasm.

And when did the neat little painted wood houses and hotels change to be made of plastic, a development that made the game cheaper to make? Then again, is plastic really cheaper? What are the real costs of plastic? Who will bear these costs? Finally, and a happier consideration, that the unequivocal mystery of mind reveals itself in all these thoughts materializing out of a tiny bit of plastic marine pollution? Washed up on Kehoe Beach.

~ Richard Lang

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Atists Judith Selby and Richard Lang have been collecting plastic pollution from Kehoe Beach for 10 years and making art with it.  More information on their Website http://www.beachplastic.com/

Gorgeous Kehoe Beach is located 40 miles north of San Francisco in Point Reyes National Seashore . See Kehoe Beach on BlooSee satellite imagery here

Dear Kraft Foods.

Yesterday on a little half mile of beach we found 18 of your little cheese spreaders from your Kraft Handi-Snak cheese packs. The week before we found 21. And 13 before that. Given the sea-patina and bleaching it’s obvious they have been at sea and not left by pick-nickers. Congratulations! you are having a great year given the empirical evidence we’ve found. Isn’t it time you followed the golden rule now that you have been given the free speech rights of a person granted by the constitution.

Peace and love,

Richard and Judith

“The US Supreme Court has struck down a major portion of a 2002 campaign-finance reform law, saying it violates the free-speech right of corporations to engage in public debate of political issues.” Christian Science Monitor

In the late 1880’s corporations were granted “person-hood” essentially giving them as written in the declaration of Independence…”We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Although the progressive movement has railed against this idea of corporate “person-hood” by 2010 this genie is well free of the bottle. It’s a fool’s errand to fight against a wave that has long ago crashed ashore.

What to do?

While I am not a “believer” or a keeper of religious ritual, as an artist I feel myself to be a part of the 30,000-year continuum of humans engaged with the imaginal life. I feel engaged with the essence of human spirituality. Yet, in an age when religious fundamentalism is causing such havoc, it is treading on very thin ice to evoke any kind of religiosity. But, that said….

During the time of Jesus, Rabbi Hillel, when challenged by a gentile, who posed a question, as a taunt, saying, “I will convert, Rabbi, if you can explain your thinking while standing on one leg.” “Easy”, says Hillel, “Do to others as you would have others do to you. All our texts are commentary on that idea, now go and study them.” This simple moral code is the core teaching of all major religions on this planet.

There is no fighting the corporate nature of our global society, but we can insist that if corporations are to enjoy the rights of person-hood, it is time for them to adopt the one true moral compass of existence, “Do to others, what you have them do to you.”

~ Richard Lang

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Artists Judith Selby and Richard Lang have been collecting plastic pollution from Kehoe Beach for 10 years and making art with it. More information on their Website http://www.beachplastic.com/

On every visit since the introduction of Kraft Handi-Snak cheese packs Richard and Judith have found these single use plastic spreaders washed up on the sand. These rectangular pieces of purple plastic last hundreds of years in the environment.

Gorgeous Kehoe Beach is located 40 miles north of San Francisco in Point Reyes National Seashore . See Kehoe Beach on BlooSee satellite imagery here.

You can contact Kraft Foods customer service by phone at 1-877-535-5666, or in writing by clicking the happy snack logo. Tell them how happy you are.

Costa Salvaje / Wild Coast is a nonprofit on both sides of the Mexican-US border and their mission is to protect and preserve coastal ecosystems and wildlife in the Californias (US state of California and Baja California, Mexico) and in Latin America by

• Building grassroots support
• Conducting media campaigns
• Establishing protected areas

One of their main areas of concern is the Tijuana Valley watershed, which is a major contributor to the plastic pollution that contaminates the ocean and beaches in the border area and beyond.

Please check out their websites at Costa Salvaje / Wild Coast and also the videos on their terrific YouTube channel, and support their work.  We are excited to start exploring synergies between Costa Salvaje / Wild Coast and the work of other members of the coalition.

Bienvenidos! Welcome! Onward! Adelante!

PS: with our new friends comes the invaluable help of several Mexican celebrities, including El Hijo del Santo, a larger than life character in Mexico and beyond. Enjoy the video!

At Kehoe Beach, turning right to the north, we find the customary tangle of plastic and wrack. For variety we decide to head south across Kehoe Creek, flowing out through the sand, and onto Ten Mile Beach.

The beach is blissfully clean here; the big waves have carried much of the plastic back out to sea. It’s a great relief to walk and not feel the compulsion to focus down and sort through a bunch of junk. We walk for a few hundred yards and then our preoccupation with getting to work has us turning back north where there’s plenty to pick through. Our habitual lean is toward gleaning stuff to tell the plastic debris story. A kind of shopping. Today we decide to make a valentine for our ourselves and our friends. All that red was gathered in fifteen minutes. Happy Valentine’s y’all.

Artists Judith Selby and Richard Lang have been collecting plastic pollution from Kehoe Beach for 10 years and making art with it.  More information on their Website http://www.beachplastic.com/

Gorgeous Kehoe Beach is located 40 miles north of San Francisco in Point Reyes National Seashore . See Kehoe Beach on BlooSee satellite imagery here

Sign the petition to safeguard our children

These chemicals are increasingly linked to serious long-term health effects, such as, cancer, autism, Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), learning disorders, infertility, diabetes, obesity, and heart disease.

Our children must get the healthy start they deserve. We all can help by joining the thousands of other Americans demanding a real federal toxics law that will make consumer products safe for kids.

Environmental Working Group has created an online petition to support the Kid-Safe Chemicals Act, which would require that all chemicals be proven safe for children before they can be sold.

Lawmakers in Washington need to know that you want them to reform our broken toxics law.  Click here to add your voice to the petition.

The mission of the Breast Cancer Fund is closely related to the our mission. First, we share a concern about the carcinogenic properties of plastics. Carcinogenic chemicals are released throughout the entire life cycle of plastics from production, through use and disposal. In addition, we share the Breast Cancer Fund’s strategy to get to the root of the problem by eliminating carcinogens from our products through legislative action like the proposed federal ban on BPA in food and drink containers.

No more than 10 percent of breast cancers are genetic, and science points to toxic chemicals and radiation as factors in the sharp rise of breast cancer incidence. Through public education, policy initiatives, advocacy and innovative campaigns, the Breast Cancer Fund mobilizes the public to secure the changes needed to stop this disease before it starts.

The Breast Cancer Fund focuses on the potential impacts of toxic chemicals on breast cancer; however, the group is cognizant that reducing human exposure will also keep these chemicals out of our air, waterways, soils and ice caps to reduce exposure for all animals, including humans.

The Breast Cancer Fund has taken a lead in federal advocacy for elimination of carcinogens in plastics, and  includes excellent information on its website about the carcinogenic dangers of plastics.

Welcome on board!

This coming summer, Rock The Earth will be helping spread the word about  Plastic Pollution Coalition at concerts and festivals throughout the U.S.

“We’re really excited to be part of the Plastic Pollution Coalition,” says Rock The Earth President Marc Ross.  “Pollution from the creation, use and disposal of plastics is one of the most pressing consumer and environmental issues that we face.  We’re really glad that we’re able to join forces with so many talented activists and artists to take action on this important issue.”

pink washing: the deceptive marketing practice of promoting association with a cancer charity (often using pink ribbon symbol) in order to suggest a company’s commitment to battling cancer, when according to independent scientific testing, a marketed product has potential to cause cancer.

Pink Washing Sparkletts’ BPA Plastic Bottles

Sparkletts’ water delivery trucks, previously known for their flashy sequins, have been pink washed. They are decorated with a big pink bow for breast cancer research and a large advertisement heralding a partnership with the Susan G. Komen for the Cure breast cancer charity.

Perhaps Sparkletts is promoting an alliance with a cancer charity as a public relations strategy to distract consumers from Sparkletts’ more significant association with polycarbonate plastic bottles used to deliver the Sparkletts water. Sparkletts’ bottles are made with a known hormone disrupter, Bishenol-A (BPA), that is suspected to cause breast cancer and prostate cancer, among other diseases. A recent study — partially funded by Susan G. Komen for the Cure — even finds that BPA interferes with chemotherapy used to treat breast cancer.

Perhaps in the spirit of partnership with a bottled water company, the Susan G. Komen for the Cure website includes a section entitled “Plastics,” which reports:

Links between plastics and cancer are often reported by the media and in e-mail hoaxes (one e-mail hoax falsely claims to be a study from Johns Hopkins University). However, there is no scientific research to support a link between using plastic items, such as drinking water from a plastic bottle, and the risk of breast cancer.

The Sparkletts website specifically defends BPA and refers to the American Chemistry Council, chief lobbyist for BPA, for more information.

Link Between Cancer and BPA, a Synthetic Estrogen

BPA was originally synthesized in 1936 as an estrogen replacement therapy, but since the 1940s it has been used primarily as a hardening agent in the manufacture of polycarbonate plastic. BPA can be found in plastic baby bottles, children’s “sippy” cups, in the epoxy resin coating in the interior of modern metal food and aluminum soda cans, and in many other products, including the large polycarbonate water bottles Sparkletts and other water services deliver to homes and offices.

The link between excess estrogen and cancer has been long established in medical research. Hormone replacement therapy for menopausal women has become disfavored for this reason.

“We know a women’s lifetime risk of breast cancer is directly linked to her lifetime exposure to estrogen — both natural and synthetic estrogen. It’s outrageous that manufacturers of some baby bottles are exposing little girls to BPA, a synthetic plasticizer that mimics estrogen, and possibly increasing that little girl’s risk of breast cancer later in life, especially when safe alternatives are available,” observes Janet Nudelman, Director, Program and Policy for the Breast Cancer Fund.

Because their reproductive organs are still developing, fetuses, infants, and children are especially vulnerable to the synthetic estrogen BPA. This means pregnant women and children should reduce exposure to BPA. Reproductive-aged women should also be wary of BPA. “From animal models, it appears that the period right after fertilization and before a woman even knows she’s pregnant, is the most sensitive time in development,” says Professor Randy Jirtle, Department of Radiation Oncology, Duke University Medical Center, “so if women are even thinking of becoming pregnant, they should consider limiting their exposure to BPA.”

Dr. Frederick vom Saal reports “There are now clear molecular mechanisms that explain how bisphenol A alters human and animal cells at concentrations at and below one part per trillion. And that’s over 1000 times below the levels that you virtually are certain to have in your body, according to the Centers for Disease Control. So if that doesn’t get you a little nervous, nothing should.”

BPA Exposure from Plastic Bottles

Despite the assurances to the contrary made by Sparkletts and Susan G. Komen for the Cure, there is indeed compelling scientific research linking plastic bottles to BPA exposure, and BPA exposure to breast cancer and many other diseases. Polycarbonate is made from BPA, and that small amounts of BPA can leach out of polycarbonate containers and plastic linings of cans into our food and drink. “Close to 100 percent of our exposure occurs this way,” says Michael Selby of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, a division of the National Institutes of Health.

BPA has been under surveillance for years, but the charges against it grew in May 2009 when a U.S. study made a link between drinking water from polycarbonate bottles and BPA exposure. The report revealed that the average BPA level of those drinking from polycarbonate bottles was 69% higher than those drinking from stainless steel bottles.

U.S. Congress, FDA and EPA Target BPA

U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Edward Markey (D-Mass) recently proposed legislation to establish a federal ban on BPA in all food and beverage containers. “Americans should not be used as guinea pigs by chemical companies while we wait, potentially for several years, for more scientific evidence to show this chemical is harmful to our health. The time has come to take action,” says Senator Feinstein.

Reversing its earlier position, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) just admitted having “some concern” that BPA may cause developmental problems in the brains and hormonal systems of fetuses and children and is spending $30 million on BPA research to formulate its formal conclusions.

BPA has also attracted the attention of Lisa P. Jackson, President Obama’s appointed head of the Environmental Protection Agency, who recently announced historic plans to overhaul federal toxic chemicals controls, with more rigorous testing and safety standards and greater EPA authority to protect the public.

Pink Washing Smartwater’s PET Plastic Bottles

DS Waters and Sparkletts are not alone is the pink-washing business. Susan G. Komen for the Cure is also accepting donations from Smartwater despite evidence that the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic bottles used by Smartwater may be just as harmful as its harder cousin polycarbonate. Recently, scientists at Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany discovered that chemicals in PET plastics have the potential to interfere with estrogen and other reproductive hormones, just as BPA and phthalates–already banned in the U.S. from infant products–do. Lead researcher Professor Martin Wagner says: “If you drink water from plastic bottles, you have a high probability of drinking estrogenic compounds.” Overall, Professor Wagner says, levels of these compounds in the water were surprisingly high and “having done all of these experiments, I started drinking tap water.”

10 Ways to Prevent Carcinogenic Chemicals from Contaminating Your Food and Water

1. Write to your U.S. Senator now.

Through this easy link, email your U.S. Senator to voice support for the proposed federal ban on BPA in food and drink containers.

2. Donate to the Breast Cancer Fund.

3. Skip bottled water and use your own unlined stainless steel water bottles.

Carefully choose a stainless steel water bottle, and make sure it’s unlined — some metal water bottles contain a plastic liner that may contain BPA.

4. Limit canned foods and beverages.

The epoxy liners of metal food and beverage cans most likely contain BPA. Especially avoid canned foods that are acidic (e.g., tomatoes, citrus products, and acidic beverages, like colas) and canned alcoholic beverages, since acids and alcohols can exacerbate the leaching of BPA.

5. Skip the water cooler.

Those hard plastic jugs that many companies use to provide their employees and customers with “pure” water are usually made with BPA. Drink filtered tap water instead.

6. Store foods in glass.

Just be sure to wash the lids, if made of plastic, by hand and not in the dishwasher.

7. Use your own unlined stainless steel travel mug.

Heat helps toxins from leach into your beverage. Instead of accepting a polystyrene “to-go” cup for your hot beverage purchases, use a unlined stainless steel travel mug.

8. Avoid Cooking in Non-Stick Pans and Eating Foods Packaged with Non-Stick Plastics.

Perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) are carcinogenic chemicals that make materials stain and stick resistant and persist in our bodies long after the packaging from such products like microwave popcorn or pizza is disposed or the non-stick pan is put away.

9. Minimize hard plastics in your kitchen.

Hard plastic stirring spoons, pancake flippers, blenders, plastic cutting boards, measuring cups, and colanders regularly come into contact with both food and heat. Replace these items with wooden, metal, or glass alternatives.

10. Join an advocacy group.

Food & Water Watch and Environmental Working Group will keep you up-to-date with current research and legislation regarding plastics and food and water safety.

Image Credits: Tin can: flickr of stevendepolo; pink watering cans: flickr of srqpix; pink counter: flickr of m.gifford;