By Kera Abraham
It’s energy-efficient, cheap and more environmentally friendly than most people realize. Heck, you might even call it sustainable. Contrary to popular belief, it is recyclable – and the claims that it poses a human health risk are unsubstantiated. If it ends up on streets, beaches and in the guts of wild animals, blame litterbugs, not the product.
So argues Mike Levy, director of the American Chemistry Council’s Plastics Foodservice Packaging Group, in a well-timed effort to counteract momentum for a regional ban on polystyrene, better known as Styrofoam. The ACC has retained PR-heavyweight Armanasco Public Relations, Inc. to make its case locally, and Levy himself addressed the Monterey Peninsula Chamber of Commerce on Feb. 13. Two days later, Monterey Regional Waste Management District’s Litter Abatement Task Force presented the district’s board with a draft polystyrene ban.
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Thursday, February 21, 2008
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Santa Cruz bans Styro: Wipe Out Plastic Takeout
A nice step forward
Jamba Juice has phased out their Stryo single-use drink containers and is encouraging reusables and phasing in biodegradable paper cups...now I can take my kids back there for a smoothie!
(the manager is VERY excited about it)
An update from Jim at Surfrider:
From: Surfrider Santa Cruz
Date: February 13, 2008 9:12:18 AM PST
To: Wallace J Nichols "" Co-Director
Subject: Santa Cruz passes polysty ban !
A word or two from "Wipe Out Plastic Takeout!"
For those who prefer plankton, not plastic in the water with them, here's a report on the polystyrene thing around Santa Cruz:
I hope you'll be as stoked as us at Surfrider that the Santa Cruz City Council unanimously passed a city-wide ban on the use of polystyrene food take-out containers in the city yesterday. This is an important move forward in this regional campaign!
So score one for WOPT! The council and city staff verbally acknowledged the strong community support from the coalition and thanked all the environmental groups in WOPT! for their help in the matter.
JIM LITTLEFIELD
Jamba Juice has phased out their Stryo single-use drink containers and is encouraging reusables and phasing in biodegradable paper cups...now I can take my kids back there for a smoothie!
(the manager is VERY excited about it)
An update from Jim at Surfrider:
From: Surfrider Santa Cruz
Date: February 13, 2008 9:12:18 AM PST
To: Wallace J Nichols "" Co-Director
Subject: Santa Cruz passes polysty ban !
A word or two from "Wipe Out Plastic Takeout!"
For those who prefer plankton, not plastic in the water with them, here's a report on the polystyrene thing around Santa Cruz:
I hope you'll be as stoked as us at Surfrider that the Santa Cruz City Council unanimously passed a city-wide ban on the use of polystyrene food take-out containers in the city yesterday. This is an important move forward in this regional campaign!
So score one for WOPT! The council and city staff verbally acknowledged the strong community support from the coalition and thanked all the environmental groups in WOPT! for their help in the matter.
JIM LITTLEFIELD
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Outside Magazine: a WEEK without plastic!
The Green Issue
Excerpt: Al Needs Some Copilots
You don't need to have billions or hold office to make a big difference. Just check out how this year's nine eco-all-stars—from a Chilean dam buster to a snowboarder who's seen the light—are changing the world.
Wallace J. Nichols
Marine Biologist, 40
"We're putting too much into the ocean and taking too much out," says Wallace J. Nichols, skipping the mind-numbing stats a guy with his credentials—he's an Ocean Conservancy senior scientist and a top sea turtle expert—could recite in his sleep. "Putting too much in? Go a week without creating plastic waste. Taking too much out? Check out ShrimpSuck.org." The site, started by Nichols in 2007, urges consumers to stop eating the country's most popular seafood, which is typically caught using turtle- and dolphin-killing nets. It's one of many issues Santa Cruz, California–based Nichols has tackled while juggling research (he was the first to discover that Pacific loggerheads migrate almost 7,500 miles to the coast of Japan) and working with more than a dozen conservation groups. This year, among other projects, he'll help Mexican villagers develop profitable turtle-watching tours and lead the Ocean Conservancy's first SEE Turtles trip, which puts travelers face to face with the creatures. "Sea turtles are sentinels for the ocean," he says. "They're my portal into everything."
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Excerpt: Al Needs Some Copilots
You don't need to have billions or hold office to make a big difference. Just check out how this year's nine eco-all-stars—from a Chilean dam buster to a snowboarder who's seen the light—are changing the world.
Wallace J. Nichols
Marine Biologist, 40
"We're putting too much into the ocean and taking too much out," says Wallace J. Nichols, skipping the mind-numbing stats a guy with his credentials—he's an Ocean Conservancy senior scientist and a top sea turtle expert—could recite in his sleep. "Putting too much in? Go a week without creating plastic waste. Taking too much out? Check out ShrimpSuck.org." The site, started by Nichols in 2007, urges consumers to stop eating the country's most popular seafood, which is typically caught using turtle- and dolphin-killing nets. It's one of many issues Santa Cruz, California–based Nichols has tackled while juggling research (he was the first to discover that Pacific loggerheads migrate almost 7,500 miles to the coast of Japan) and working with more than a dozen conservation groups. This year, among other projects, he'll help Mexican villagers develop profitable turtle-watching tours and lead the Ocean Conservancy's first SEE Turtles trip, which puts travelers face to face with the creatures. "Sea turtles are sentinels for the ocean," he says. "They're my portal into everything."
READ MORE
Monday, February 11, 2008
Paper or plastic? How about neither
Paper or plastic? How about neither
The heat is on to cut back on the 100 billion plastic bags we use each year
by By Marni Pyke | Daily Herald Staff
When it comes to plastic bags, the answer is not blowing in the wind. The problem is blowing in the wind, environmental advocates say.
Clogging sewers, harming wildlife, hogging space in landfills, using up fossil fuels and littering the landscape, the ubiquitous totes have no shortage of critics. But recently, the chorus of disapproval has started moving from words to action.
"They're a product we really don't need," said Mark Westlund, a spokesman for San Francisco's environmental department. "We didn't use them before the mid-1970s and people got along just fine without."
Read much more here
The heat is on to cut back on the 100 billion plastic bags we use each year
by By Marni Pyke | Daily Herald Staff
When it comes to plastic bags, the answer is not blowing in the wind. The problem is blowing in the wind, environmental advocates say.
Clogging sewers, harming wildlife, hogging space in landfills, using up fossil fuels and littering the landscape, the ubiquitous totes have no shortage of critics. But recently, the chorus of disapproval has started moving from words to action.
"They're a product we really don't need," said Mark Westlund, a spokesman for San Francisco's environmental department. "We didn't use them before the mid-1970s and people got along just fine without."
Read much more here
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