Aberrant Waste: Ocean Plastics
Max Liboiron
Wednesday, February 15, 5:30-7:00 pm
Bobst Library, New York University
70 Washington Square South, New York, NY
This illustrated talk will focus on a single sample of ocean plastics taken from the North Pacific Ocean and follow the threads of how it was collected, how samples are used in science and advocacy, their place in the popular imagination, and how an individual specimen can and cannot scale up to illuminate a new global pollution that will characterize the twenty-first century. More details

The speaker is Max Liboiron, ABD, Department of Media, Culture and Communication, New York University and co-author of the Discard Studies Blog.

A version of a similar talk is available as a podcast via the Material World Blog’s Occasional Paper Series.

It is imperative that groups supporting sustainable packaging comment on this report, as the US EPA will be use it as the foundation of their future approach to packaging issues. So far, comments from environmentally-conscious actors and citizens are outnumbered by those from industry insiders. Comments on this report are due February 9th. The focus of comments should be on the need for source reduction and industry responsibility for packaging waste they generate.

We cannot let this opportunity pass to steer the EPA away from adopting the plastic industry’s reversal of the sustainability model to prefer recycling over reduction and reuse. Recycling will never solve all the problems associatedwith plastic packaging including: human health concerns, impacts on the environment and wildlife, and costs to local governments that are burdened with pollution control.  Please see the attached sample comments submitted by Legal Policy Director Lisa Kaas Boyle on behalf of Plastic Pollution Coalition and Leslie Tamminen submitted on behalf of Seventh Generation.

Steps to Comment:

1. Click on this link.
2. Click on the link in the search results which says “Memorandum to open docket for public access”.
3. In the top right corner, click on the “Submit Comment” button.
4. Fill out the information fields on the comment page. Be sure to both paste your comment in the large and attach a document file with the comment in it.
5. Click submit.

Dr. Guggenheim recently participated in a 60 Minutes special with Anderson Cooper, raising awareness about the plastic pollution threatening the beautiful coral reefs off the coast of Cuba.

We’re excited to have his expertise and his public persona added to our repertoire.

As Jim has been offering his passion to our mission since the beginning, no ‘welcome’ is necessary, but please join us in offering our appreciation of his efforts.

Brittany Shoot is thrilled to be the new Plastic Free Times Managing Editor. She’s already hard at work planning a front-end makeover and improved functionality for the site. Brittany is extremely excited to pair her passion for environmental justice and experience as an editor and journalist to make Plastic Free Times the go-to website for issues related to plastic pollution, toxics, and environmental legislation.

Since earning a master’s degree at Emerson College in Boston, Brittany has worked as a freelance writer and journalist with some consulting thrown in for good measure. She primarily covers environmental issues, women’s health, arts and culture, and travel for The Guardian, Salon, USA Today, The Daily, and AlterNet, among others. She’s contributed to several encyclopedia volumes, had her op-eds syndicated by The New York Times, and drafted internal management policies for Greenpeace Nordic. Currently, she’s a contributing writer at xoJane.com.

Brittany recently moved to downtown San Francisco after living in Copenhagen for the past three years. She likes going to the beach in the winter, discovering green spaces in the Financial District, and eating dark chocolate with marzipan. She welcomes your feedback at brittany [at] plasticfreetimes [dot] com

Charlie Eckberg, UCSB Alumni, with speakers and student leaders

It seems appropriate that UC Santa Barbara, home of one of the oldest environmental studies programs in the nation, would also be home to an incredibly active group of students working to release their community from dependence on disposable plastics. UCSB students will serve as a model for campuses around the world, as members of the Plastic Pollution Coalition’s new Plastic Free Campuses program.

The Plastic Free Campuses program will identify student groups at schools around the world that are responding to the multiple threats of plastic pollution and embracing sustainability by taking steps to measurably reduce their campuses plastic footprint. At UCSB, a variety of student groups have come together to call themselves the UCSB Plastic Pollution Coalition. As a member of the Plastic Free Campuses , the UCSB-PPC joins schools in Peru, Colombia, Japan, South Australia, and Spain that have made a commitment to reducing their plastic footprint. To register, a school needs only to have an existing initiative addressing the issues of plastic pollution on campus or in the community.

PPC Executive Director Daniella Russo with UCSB seniors, Ally Gialketsis and Matt Gilliland

Last week, students at UC Santa Barbara organized a week of activities as part of the annual ‘UCSB Reads’ program, which “encourages a common reading and intellectual experience for the community,” according to the specially printed forward of the book “Moby Duck”, by Donovan Hohn, 2,500 copies of which were distributed for free at the UCSB library last week.

The community focus on plastic pollution is in part, recognition of the work being done by several campus organizations that have joined efforts in their work to bring the issue to the fore of discussion on campus and in the community of Santa Barbara. The group, which calls itself the UCSB Plastic Pollution Coalition, is formed in part by the Associated Students Coastal Fund, CALPIRG, the Isla Vista Surfrider Foundation, and the UCSB Environmental Affairs Board. Additionally, the UCSB Reads program is supported by academic departments across many disciplines at UCSB, as well as several community partners.

It is this kind of cross-disciplinary, student led effort that PPC seeks to support with the global Plastic Free Campuses program. Why students? Matt Gilliland, UCSB senior and Oceans Campaign Coordinator for CALPIRG UCSB, says, “The Santa Barbara community is full of concerned citizens, but they need something to mobilize around. A force of young students that are committed to building a better community will spark a movement. We’ll lead by demonstration – getting plastics off of our campus to show that it can be done.”

Students helped build a Rubber Ducky with local org, Art from Scrap

In addition to the distribution of 2,500 copies of “Moby Duck,” last weeks activities included a visit by the author, lectures and panels related to the book, and the building of a giant rubber ducky out of ocean trash, organized by the local organization Art from Scrap. The week concluded with a press conference highlighting campus and local community efforts to deal with plastic pollution. PPC’s Executive Director, Daniella Russo, took the opportunity to announce the official launch of the global Plastic Free Campuses program.

Kathleen Reddington, of the Carpinteria City council, spoke about her own communities success in banning plastic bags, commended the students of UCSB for taking this on, and encouraged the entire UC system to follow the trend. Last semester, UCSB student volunteers collected over 3,000 signatures from the community in support of plastic bag bans on campus and in the community of Santa Barbara, their goal is to have 6,000 signatures by the end of the school year.

“I want to be able to tangibly see the effects of my work,” says Ryan McInerney, a senior in Environmental Studies and Political Science, who joined student volunteers in helping to gather signatures on Friday. Ryan has researched and written about the issues of plastic pollution, but is happy to be outside, engaging peers in the issue, and working to take action.

In the coming months, UCSB will host a variety of activities on campus, including ‘Day without a bag’, a reusable bag swap, and a sustainable vendors fair. In addition, UCSB is working on installing hydration stations across the campus. Two pilot stations have been installed, and a proposal for 40 more across the campus is being developed.

“The PPC provides an outlet for us to show the rest of the world that a plastic-free campus is a very tangible goal.” Says Ally Gialketsis, a senior at UCSB and Plastics Coordinator and Co-chair for Isla Vista Surfrider Foundation. “Students are driven and motivated by the issue of plastic pollution, and the PPC is the best way for students to put that energy towards their goal in the most efficient and constructive way possible.”

For more information about the Plastic Pollution Coalition’s Plastic Free Campuses program, visit http://plasticpollutioncoalition.org/projects/plastic-free-campuses/

See more photos from the event on facebook (and join the PPC page while your at it!)

See a VIDEO of the event, produced by UCSB’s Bottom Line.

Other coverage of the UCSB Reads week:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/matthew-spiegl/plastic-free-campuses_b_1232904.html

http://www.celsias.com/article/university-california-takes-plastic-problem/

http://www.dailynexus.com/2012-01-10/yearly-free-book-program-tackles-plastic-pollution/

http://eco-runner.blogspot.com/2012/01/university-of-california-takes-on.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+eco-runner+%28Eco-Runner%29

http://www.edhat.com/site/tidbit.cfm?nid=78641

Ben Bezark is a mission-driven person, with a passion for making the world a better place.

At the University of Vermont, Ben studied Community and International Development, with a significant amount of coursework in ecological economics. Ecological economics looks at the unaccounted side of the economic picture, the ‘externalized costs’ that are not reflected in the price tag of any given transaction, and attempts to reconcile those market failures with the conventional economic system. Ben has applied this paradigm to waste education, a lens through which we can begin to uncover the hidden costs of a society dependent on material consumption. The Plastic Free Campuses program is a natural fit for Ben, who has direct experience in waste education with middle and high schools across throughout San Francisco’s East Bay Area.

Ben has worked extensively with teenagers in the East Bay on waste issues as part of EarthTeam’s Waste Action Project. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of EarthTeam, a non-profit environmental education organization serving middle and high schools throughout the East Bay with a variety of classroom and field based programming.

Ben can be reached at ben(at)plasticpollutioncoalition(dot)org.

• Launched Plastic Free Times
• Grew the coalition to over 150 institutional members, with a global reach to over 2 million people
• Grew the stellar lineup of Notable Supporters including American actress Bette Midler, Green Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Ali Al Nuaimi, Teamsters General President James Hoffa, Jr. and many other distinguished leaders and public figures.
• Launched  Plastic Pollution Coalition: Central America
• Launched Plastic Pollution Coalition East Coast, USA
• Launched Plastic Pollution Coalition’s online store
• Launched Plastic Free Campuses project, with its collegiate debut at the University of California – Santa Barbara
• Launched Think Beyond Plastic, a PPC initiative to spur innovation and entrepreneurship for solutions
• Launched the Plastic Pollution Coalition individual membership program, and signed up hundreds of members
• Reached thousands of people with the power of art and the message about plastic pollution
• And so much more! The list just goes on.

All of this was made possible because of YOU.

We approach 2012 with an extended team and many new projects. We are excited about the opportunity the future holds. But most of all, we are excited about working together, continuing to build our friendship and our success, and reaching even higher milestones in our work!

Thank you all for your support, for your friendship and for your dedication to a world free of plastic pollution!

We wish you a 2012 full of promise, hope and great deeds!

Sullie Saves the Seas explores the human extremes of caring and indifference as a small group of dedicated birds battle to preserve the oceans.  When Goffinet McLaren’s new super-hero, Sullie, sees that plastic pollution is destroying his precious Turtle Beach, he calls his friends to action.

Chapter by chapter, Sullie’s clever plot delivers a delightful tale that you will enjoy sharing with your children and friends. The book targets ages 8-12, but kids of all ages will enjoy and learn.  McLaren dedicates this story to all of the sea birds, whales, dolphins, seals, and turtlesthat have lost their lives due to plastic pollution.

This beautiful book is available for purchase on Amazon.com and will make a great gift for the whole family.

The author, Goffinet McLaren is a Plastic Pollution Coalition member.