You’ve probably already heard about the Japanese tsunami debris making its way across the ocean and the 66-foot long dock that washed ashore on the Oregon coast last week.  (According to NOAA, the debris is unlikely to be radioactive, by the way.) The dock is a story in and of itself, but what made me realize […]
Would you believe there is a company not only producing plastic products for the beach, but actually promoting them using a photo of an ocean wave sweeping one of their plastic gizmos, filled with a disposable plastic cup, towards the sea? I wasn’t planning on posting a rant today, as I’m leaving in a few […]
This past Sunday, I had the honor to be a guest on MCNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry show. It was my very first live national appearance, so as you can imagine, I was just a little concerned with getting everything right. As instructed, I put on way more makeup than usual (usual being none at all most […]
A year ago I explained everything you ever wanted to know about plastic produce stickers: what they are for, what you can do with them, and whether we should spend time worrying about them. After all, they make up a minute fraction of the plastic that’s finding its way into the environment. What I didn’t […]
From my experience, feeling fear means something is worth doing. You all know about the TED Talks, right? The annual TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conferences bring together leading thinkers and doers giving the talks of their lives. And these talks are accessible to the public via the TED web site, a fantastic repository of ideas […]
Foamy and Leafy is a kids’ book about the plastic in the North Pacific Gyre. This review is a guest post by plastic-free blogger, Linda Anderson, who blogs at Citizen Green http://tippecanoegreen.blogspot.com. She’s filling in for me today while my eyes heal. Please stop by her blog and leave comments or suggestions. Several months ago I […]
Over the next few years you are going to hear a lot of claims about programs to clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The floating island of plastic garbage twice the size of Texas. The trash patch. The area Captain Charles Moore discovered ten years ago. Don’t be fooled! The Pacific Garbage Patch is […]
Julia Smith’s first grade class at Rooftop Alternative School, perched high up in San Francisco’s Twin Peaks area, is different from most, and Julia Smith is a special kind of teacher. For example, in an effort to teach the children how to choose plastic-free grocery options, she actually took them on a field trip to […]
Last week I learned that you don’t have to travel to Kamilo Beach in Hawaii or Midway Island to find mounds of plastic trash. No, there’s plenty of it just up the California coast at Kehoe Beach, part of the Point Reyes National Seashore. And I got to see it. Artists Richard Lang and Judith […]
Did you guys see Captain Charles Moore on the David Letterman show Monday night? He laid it all out — the complete picture of what our plastic waste is doing to the ocean and ultimately the food we eat and the climate we depend on — in his usual direct style. I’m amazed that Letterman […]