30 Day Zero Waste Challenge
Yesterday we learned that plastics do not biodegrade. They are long lived. They photodegrade, break down into smaller and smaller pieces, microplastics, that we know are so lethal. All the more reason to join the growing list of individuals, businesses, communities, and local governments who are banning the plastic bag.
SINGLE-USE PLASTIC BAG FACTS
http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/…/sustainability/plastic…
Wonderful “Bag It” Documentary:
http://www.bagitmovie.com/
…you can sneak a peak on youtube – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Km-CYcf2ags&t=8s
-Microplastics ‘pose major threat’ to whales and sharks, scientists warn. Ocean’s largest creatures are eating large quantities of plastic fragments, exposing them to toxic chemicals
https://www.independent.co.uk/…/microplastics-ocean-polluti…
LEARN MORE ABOUT PLASTICS POLLUTION
A Global Tragedy for Our Oceans and Sea Life
http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/…/ocean_plast…/index.html
Marine Litter – https://vimeo.com/167686951
ON A PERSONAL NOTE – ABOUT THE IMPACT OF METHANE AS REFERRED TO IN THE ZERO WASTE COMMUNITY – I’ve noticed an error repeated in the Zero–Waste community about the impact of methane (natural or fracked gas) as a greenhouse gas. It is *86X* more powerful than carbon dioxide – not 20X like I’ve seen repeated on several zero–waste blogs. This is important to get correct since plastics in the US are manufactured with fracked (AKA “natural”) gas.
This is a 6 minute clip that I recommend all zero–waste advocates watch:
-Chasing Methane
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=35&v=sBhC_PVd2Lc
“While CO2 persists in the atmosphere for centuries, or even millennia, methane warms the planet on steroids for a decade or two before decaying to CO2. In those short decades, methane warms the planet by 86 times as much as CO2, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.:
-How Bad of a -Greenhouse Gas Is Methane? The global warming potential of the gaseous fossil fuel may be consistently underestimated.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/…/how-bad-of-a-greenhou…/
Quote of the Day:
“Awareness is the greatest agent for change.”
