Rise Above Plastics





SHORT SUMMARY :

Since plastics do not biodegrade, but only break into smaller pieces and are being ingested at an alarming rate by marine animals, they are wreaking havoc on our oceans and marine life, which we depend on for our existence.
That's why with the support of the Monterey Chapter, the Surfrider Foundation is launching a Rise Above Plastics! campaign.  And, because it is crucial to turn the above facts around, we are asking for your help in our efforts.
Rise Above Plastics -  RAP Blog, managed by Surfrider San Diego with various other contributors.
**If you’d like to be a contributor, email Scott Harrison (scott@surfridersd.org), tell him which chapter you’re with and ask to be added.
FACTS:
  • There is currently 6 times more plastic than plankton in the Northwest Pacific Gyre.
  • The U.S. goes through 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually, requiring an estimated 12 million barrels of oil- a wasteful, reckless use of petroleum.
  • Because of their flying, skimming and feeding habits, fulmars are the ‘canary in a coalmine’ version of marine birds.  By the late 1990’s 98% of fulmar stomachs contained plastic, on average 31 pieces, in the North Sea.
  • Each year an estimated 1 million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals die as a result of eating or being strangled by plastic and other marine debris.
  • There is a garbage patch roughly twice the size of Texas floating in the Pacific Ocean; similar patches exist in every ocean.
  • More and more data are showing links between pthalates, or plasticizers, and various problematic health effects, including abnormal reproductive development in males, asthma, endocrine disruption, cancer and premature births.
BECOME THE SOLUTION: It is sooo easy!!!1) Bring your own mug to the cafe - BYO!
2) Bring your own tote bag to the grocery store - BYO!
3) Bring your own to-go container to the restaurant - BYO!
Long walk on the beach? Bring a bag and pick up those broken bits of plastic and Styrofoam... it's more romantic than you think! You can make up stories of the discarded bootie. Try it! We guarantee a good time, or at least a productive one.
Please, share this with a friend. Get involved. Become a member. Make it your way of giving back to the oceans and beaches...

REFERENCES AND RESOURCES

Bock, Paula (2006) Oceans of Waste. Seattle Times. April 4, 2006.
Goettlich, Paul (2004) The Sixth Basic Food Group. Retrieved fromhttp://www.mindfully.org
Hayden, Thomas (2002) Trashing the Oceans. U.S. News and World Report. November 4, 2002.
Moore, Charles (2003) Trashed: The Pacific Ocean, Plastics, Plastics, Everywhere.Natural History v112 n9. November 2003.
CAPP Campaign (Campaign Against the Plastic Plague) http://www.earthresource.org
Bring Your Own Campaign http://wwwbringyourown.org
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