Crashing into Garbage in the North Pacific

Chris Jordan and his team have reached their initial fund raising goal for the Midway Film project.  The total raised is now over $105,000 and continues to climb.  The Midway Film project has gone from 0 to over 1,500 contributors in less than a month because this story about plastic in the ocean resonates with people from all over the world.

Here is the link to the latest update from Chris and his team -- presently on Midway Island.

Here is a link to the Midway Film trailer.

Also ongoing right now is the bi-annual Victoria to Maui sailboat race.  You can track the progress of the boats, that left Victoria BC, Canada on July 3 and are now over half way to Maui on the official web site here.  It is interesting to note that the sailors are on the look out for floating garbage from the Japanese Tsunami last year -- just now reaching the coast of North America.  

Here is a link to an intersting tracking site on USA Today.

Here is a link to the story about the sailors and avoiding the garbage.

The Legacy of the Bread Clip

We cite the story of the bread clip whenever a buddy comes up with a business idea that is not sexy but could become ubiquitous.  I bet it was only yesterday that you heard yourself saying "You are a regular Folyd B Paxton" in response to a proposal for a handy belt holster for tooth picks.  After all, a person can get rich one one hundredth of a cent at a time -- as long as there are billions of times.

Floyd B Paxton, of Yakima, Washington is credited as the inventor of the bread clip.  I doubt anyone knows how many billions of bread clips have been made since that fateful day in the early 1950s, or if Floyd's Kwik Lok corporation made much money, but we can be quite sure that most of those bread clips are still in existence.  

If your sense of humor about this kind of thing is as warped as mine, you should check out this website that considers the bread clip a living organism that feeds off of the plastic bag.  They call them "occlupanids":

Since very little of occlupanid’s behavior has been recorded, its life cycle remains a mystery. Most scholars agree that occulpanids attach themselves to the plastic bags to gain nourishment. Plastic bags, when distended with matter, twist their anterior aperature (usually clockwise, but research is inconclusive), forming a tight stricture that ends in a halo formed by the fringe of the bag.

Actually, it would be much better if the bread clip was a living organism that ate plastic.  That is exactly what we need on this earth.  Unfortunately the bread clip is not biodegradable.  It takes thousands of years for them to decay.  That means that a single bread clip in the environment could be injested by and destroy dozens of animals as it and its sharp corners passes through one after another.

If you want to think more about this kind of thing, join us at the Midway Film project on Kickstarter:  6 days and $25,000 to go to make the goal so Chris Jordan can produce this incredible film.

If you are wondering how my no plastic July is going, the answer simply is not good.  This week I had to break down and get toothpaste, and the other day I was at the movies and ordered a water -- before I thought about that blasted plastic bottle.  Good thing I don't have much hair left to pull out.

Living Without Plastic: Mission Impossible?

Day 0 (my Costco trip before July started)

There is plastic everywhere.  There are some situations where avoiding plastic is pretty easy -- not buying bottled water, avoiding electronics with big plastic packages.  These situations are rare compared to the items where there does not seem to be any viable alternative but to buy the plastic.  Toothpaste, dish washing detergent, cheese, meat.  In some cases I had the choice between a plastic bottle and a glass bottle -- olive oil for example, but those situations were rare.  My month without buying plastic had not even started and it seems impossible.

Day 1 (yesterday)

Luckily I did not need to buy anything yesterday -- so I was able to make it through the first day of my quest without an outright failure.  It is really no victory because I did in fact just stock up with mountains of plastic at Costco.

Day 2 (today)

I may just make it through today for the same reason as yesterday.  But in the four days since I thought of this -- I have become accutely aware that our society will have to change significantly if we are going to be successful in reducing the use of plastics.

Remember this?

• Ben! Excuse me.
• Mr. McQuire          
• Ben.              
• Mr. McQuire.               
• Come on with me for a minute. I want to talk to you. I just want to say on word to you, just one word.
• Yes, sir.
• Are you listening?
• Yes I am.
• Plastics.
• Exactly how do you mean?
• There is a great future in plastics.
• Think about it. Will you think about it?
• Ben! Excuse me.
• Mr. McQuire          
• Ben.              
• Mr. McQuire.               
• Come on with me for a minute. I want to talk to you. I just want to say on word to you, just one word.
• Yes, sir.
• Are you listening?
• Yes I am.
• Plastics.
• Exactly how do you mean?
• There is a great future in plastics.
• Think about it. Will you think about it?

It is hard to believe that this scene with Ben and Mr McQuire in The Graduate happened in 1967.  Back when toothpase came in an aluminum tube, and motor oil (and beer) came in metal cans.  It was only 45 years ago.  In this short time we have filled the oceans with plastic waste.  

If you have found a way to avoid buying plastic - leave me a comment and I will compile a master list.

Check in on Chris Jordan's Midway project here.  15 days and $58,000 to go.  Thank you to everyone who has contributed.

Here is an interesting story about fishermen, fishing for plastic in the north sea.

Paper or Plastic?

I have been working with Chris Jordan on his Midway Film project for the past month and have decided that at the very least I have to try to not contribute so much to the problem of plastic in our oceans.  So for the month of July, my family and I are going to try to not to buy any plastic at all.  

Sure, asking for paper bags at the grocery store is a start.  But as I suspect I am going to find out later this week when we go to Costco, not buying plastic is probably impossible.  I will be reporting my progress here.

If you are interested in the project, here are a few things to check out:

Chris Jordan's TED talk about waste.

A post about how long plastic lasts (forever).

A post about the myths of plastic recycling (doesn't really work).

Another TED talk about plastic trash.

Later, maybe August, I am going to try to figure out how to responsibly dispose of the plastic I already have.

If you want to do something to help, but aren't quite ready to give up plastic, here is a link to Chris Jordan's MidwayFilm project's Kickstarter.