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BANG FOR THE BITE
If we all did our part in keeping plastic out of the sea, we could savemany of the 1 million sea birds, 100,000 sea mammals and countless fish killed by plastic waste annually.
COCKTAIL FACT
Sea trash of another kind: modern-day pirates make away with an estimated $13-16 billion per year worldwide.
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home › tip library › When Six-Pack Rings Attack
Do you find yourself picking up more than just seashells by the seashore?
The Bite
We’ve all heard about the six-pack-soda-ring–thing killing animals.(And that would be a “bad thing,” Martha). Luckily, there are some simple steps to help you take a bite out of ocean litter.The Benefits
- Protect wildlife. Continue to cut those 6-pack rings, which can wrap around animals’ fins and limbs; but more importantly, dispose of garbage properly. Some animals mistake debris for food, which can cause choking or block their digestive systems.
- Become a savvier shopper. Opt for products with minimal or lesswasteful packaging – go for soda that doesn’t have the rings at all. In many regions, plastic materials constitute as much as 90-95% of the total amount of marine debris.
- Get involved. Volunteer for coastal cleanups or find out how your local municipality is disposing of waste.
Personally Speaking
Doing our part, we volunteer at least once a year at local park and beach clean ups. Let us tell you: take gloves on your cleanups -picking up those cigarette butts is just nasty without the gloves.Wanna Try?
- Living Responsibly - additional ocean-friendly tips from the Ocean Conservancy.
- Boating Litter & Fish Waste Fact Sheet - steps recreational boaters and fishermen can take to reduce litter.
- Volunteer for the International Coastal Cleanup.
May 08,2006
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Pop Shoppe Nostalgia
Today's tip was an interesting one for the Bite. Some of the research out there actually showed that claims about marine life dying from soda can rings were greatly exaggerated. But still. When it comes down to it - why on earth should ANY animal die just because I needed some soda? Especially when all it takes is an awareness of proper disposal methods.
Speaking of proper disposal - remember to pack your garage out after you hang out in the woods: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/05/yet_another_rea_2.php
When I was a kid, soda can rings weren't really an issue. We had something called the Pop Shoppe (which proves my 1940s-style upbringing better than maybe anything else out there). Every month, we'd get a palette of glass-bottled local soda in the summer. Enough to maybe have one a day or one every other day. Every possible flavor under the sun from lemon-lime to cherry to cola.
And each month, we had to take the empties in, where they were cleaned and refilled and delivered to some other lucky family a month later.
Wish we still had Pop Shoppes...
-Heather... off to plant all the fun flowers I bought at the farmers' market this weekend...
Biter Comments...
The rings are a very big problem. Another that you may find interesting is old fishing line. When walking around heavily fished rivers and streams there can be LARGE clumps and strings of monofilament(mono) worse the new breed of fishing lines referred to braided types (such as Spiderwire). While Mono eventually gets brittle and breaks up after a few years the braided type doesn’t. This line can and does get tangled up in wild life and well you can imagine. NOW some groups are pushing to help by telling folks to clean up such as Trout Unlimited, Ducks Unlimited, and many other sportsman based conservation groups. Trout Unlimited recommends bringing a small garbage bag with you when you go to collect stuff. If everyone did there would be a whole lot less mess. Also different companies that make fishing products have added items to make the clean up/management of fishing lines easier (Fishpond and Patagonia come to mind.
hi,
in re: when six pack rings attack.
i wanted to share with you another way of dealing with this particular environmental hazard.
a friend, and wonderful artist, by the name of Janet Nolan has turned these nuisances into amazing works of art.
as a matter of fact, discarded materials of all sorts are the mainstay of her work - baby food jars, trashed umbrellas, plastic tops from containers, and more.
please check out her website at www.janetnolanart.com for a visual treat.
(the six-pack rings are located in installations, page 3)
you won't be disappointed, it's truly inspired.
peace,
karen mastriacovo
I read about San Francisco thinking about charging for plastic bags at the grocery store. Go for it! I am from Europe, where you have to bring your own bags, or pay for the ones in the store. They have been doing this for as long as I remember (so at least 30 years...) and they should do that in the US too. And why not throw in the 5 cents a bottle thing too?
People in general do not seem to respond unless they feel it in their wallets.
Sylvia Bosma
Something I always do before throwing the soda-rings into the trash is to snip each of the circles with a scissor so there are no enclosed rings that an animal could trap an animal's limbs or neck or body. It only takes a few seconds to do that.
And thanks for the Janet Nolan link. Quite inspiring!
http://www.utsource.net/100361PC.html
http://www.utsource.net/100363DC.html
http://www.utsource.net/100363DM.html
http://www.utsource.net/100363DM-MLS.html
http://www.utsource.net/100363DMQB.html
http://www.utsource.net/100364DC.html
http://www.utsource.net/100364DM.html
http://www.utsource.net/100364DM-MLS.html
http://www.utsource.net/100364DMQB.html
PHOTO ALBUMS
Posted by: Jennifer Stokes | May 08, 2006 at 10:18 AM