Tag: ocean

Sea Bins – Another tool for cleaning trash from our lakes and oceans

Sea Bins – Another tool for cleaning trash from our lakes and oceans

People have designed several ingenious ways to capture trash that is in our waterways. Of course, preventing it from getting there in the first place would be the best option but failing that, we need effective ways to remove it. A post from the World Economic Forum highlights Sea Bins. Each bin can capture 90,000 plastic bags a year.

That is a lot of plastic out of our waterways but it still is only a dent in the approximately 8 million tons of plastic that ends up in the ocean yearly. The Seabin Project, maker of the Sea Bins, is a cleantech startup trying to help solve the global problem of ocean plastic pollution. Their Sea Bins act like floating trash cans, collecting garbage, oil, fuel, and detergents. The idea is to skim floating debris from harbours before it enters the ocean.

Learn more: http://ow.ly/cBY550Lp86w

Only 9% of Plastic is Recycled

Only 9% of Plastic is Recycled

With statistics showing only 9% of plastic is recycled, more needs to be done. Recycling is an ideal method of keeping plastics out of landfills and eleswhere in the environment, but many other options are equally beneficial methods of reducing the amount of plastics in landfill or in the ocean.

The variety of plastic types includes a complex array of items that can and cannot be recycled, leaving the consumer the job of determining which to trash and which to recycle. Further complicating things is that some parts of a package may be recyclable while other parts are not. For example, often plastic bottles can be recycled, but their caps cannot. Including non-recyclable items can damage recycling equipment and increase the cost by requiring careful sorting. Many plastic containers contain food, liquids, or other contents that should be cleaned prior to recycling. Even labels can gum up recycling equipment. All of these factors increase the cost and effort required.

reusable water bottle
Photo by Kate Trifo on Unsplash

Reducing our reliance on single-use, disposable packaging can make an equal or larger impact than recycling. Multi-pack and bulk items can provide a better ratio of packaging to products and many companies are making efforts to reduce excess packaging. Other companies are testing alternatives to plastic as packaging materials, including plant-based materials that decompose more easily.

Choosing products packaged in glass or metal are another simple option. Glass and metal are much more efficiently recycled than plastics. Additionally, glass and metal containers can easily be cleaned, reused, and repurposed. Choosing a reusable water bottle over disposable plastic bottles can be a simple act, significantly reduce one of the biggest sources of plastic waste, and be a healthier choice by avoiding exposure to chemicals from cheap plastic bottles that can leach into the water.

Other simple choices include using real utensils rather than single serve plastic ones, grouping shipments to reduce packing, using your own bags when shopping, or buying secondhand. Small changes do make an impact.

Photo by Antoine GIRET on Unsplash

Free The Ocean Of Plastic

Free The Ocean Of Plastic

An estimated 18 billion pounds of plastic enters the ocean each year.

Let’s do something about it.

The state of our ocean effects every single one of us, whether we live in Ohio or Japan. Be a part of changing these statistics and help remove plastics and keep it out. Find out how you can limit your plastic footprint HERE. Free the Ocean takes the advertising dollars generated by you visiting their site and directly pay their cause partner as grants to fund removing plastic.

Simple Things YOU Can Do To Keep Plastic Out Of The Ocean

1 million plastic bags are used PER MINUTE.

Let’s reduce these #’s. Bring your own reusable shopping and produce bags to markets (in many grocery stores this will also save you from having to purchase a bag).

Be a good recycler.

Only 9% of recyclable plastics actually get recycled. So look up what your local waste center accepts and keep that in mind when buying products and throwing things away.

Bar soap > soap in a plastic bottle.

A lot of these tend to smell better anyways.

Stay away from those plastic water bottles.

Seriously. Invest in a reusable bottle, like the Free the Ocean stainless steel bottle, which will not only benefit the ocean but is cheaper in the long run (and keeps your beverages hot or cold). Once you’ve bought a reusable bottle, check out the handy app called Tap that can show you where you’ll find the closest water oasis to fill up. www.findtap.com

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