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Information and details on Zero Waste Week.

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Zero Waste Week | Castro Valley Sanitary District

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To cap the week off, CVSan once again hosted a Fixit Clinic and Swap O-Rama-Rama at the Castro Valley Library. There were 11 volunteer coaches on-hand at the Fixit Clinic to help over 20 participants learn how to fix their broken items, including things like boomboxes, a vacuum, an umbrella, a printer, and a couple lamps.

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Lots of tips on how to create and live in a zero waste lifestyle.

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My family generates a pint-size jar of trash per year, and so can you! Here are a 100 tips to drastically reduce your household's waste. Each section is a condensed version of a full chapter in my , so please consult it for further information, such as how-to's, recipes. For Zero Waste alternatives, please shop your home or the local thrift shop. If you need product recommendations, please follow the links or visit the .

Before you start:

Arm yourself with a reusable water bottle, a couple grocery totes , a few cloth bags, reusable jars, and bottles.

Keep in mind my 5Rs methodology, as outlined in my book throughout the process: Refuse what you do not need, Reduce what you do need, Reuse what you consume, Recycle what you cannot Refuse, Reduce or Reuse, and Rot (Compost) the rest.

KITCHEN

1. Welcome alternatives to disposables (paper towels, garbage liners, wax paper, aluminum sheets, disposable plates, cups, etc....): Swap paper towels for reusable rags, swap sandwich baggies for kitchen towels or stainless containers, drop garbage liners all together (wet waste is compostable anyways).

2. Buy in bulk or at the counter, bring reusable bags (dry goods), jars (wet items such as meat, deli, fish, cheese, oil, peanut butter) and bottles (liquids: oil, soy sauce, shampoo, conditioner).

3. If you cannot find it in bulk, find a supplier (bring your jar to the ice cream shop, a pillow case to the bakery for your bread, or your bottles to the winery/brewery)... or make it (salad dressing, hot sauce, jams, hummus, cookies, canned tomatoes).

4. Shop the farmer's market: they'll take the egg carton and the berries baskets back for reuse. Your veggies will also most likely be free of plastic and stickers there too.

5. Learn to love your tap water.

6. Use bulk liquid c astile soap as a dish/hand cleaner, baking soda as a scrubber (in a stainless Parmesan shaker ) with a compostable cleaning brush. Purchase dishwasher detergent in bulk.

7. Turn your trash can into a big compost keeper. Use your tiny compost keeper as a trash can (on the market, the sizes for these seem to be reversed).

8. Reinvent your leftovers before they go bad. Go thru your recipe binder/box and only keep the recipes that can be achieved with zero waste in mind.

9. Invest in a pressure cooker (halves the cooking time).

10. YOU CAN ALSO... Reuse single-side printed paper for grocery shopping and errands list, use your lettuce cleaning water to water plants, open your oven after baking in the winter (cool your oven, warm your house)...

BATHROOM

1. Use 100% recycled and unbleached toilet paper individually wrapped in paper (buy it from your local restaurant and hotel supply store and save big) or if you have solar you could install an electrical washlet to your toilet seat.

2. Use an alum stone or straight baking soda as deodorant.

3. For shaving, (re)use a safety razor and shaving soap (any soap will do but my fave is Alep soap ).

4. Refill your bottles with bulk shampoo and conditioner. Or better yet, forgo conditioner, and use the same solid soap that you use on face and body, to wash your hair. If your hair is short, you also have the "no-poo" option: rinse your hair, massage baking soda in, then rinse, with vinegar for shine. Instead of hairspray, switch to lemon water in a spray bottle (recipe in the book). To go longer between washes, substitute dry shampoo for cornstarch (in bulk).

5. For body/face soap, find a package-free solid soap. To exfoliate, use bulk baking soda. For a mask, use bulk clays (French, Kaolin, Bentonite, etc...), mixed with water or apple cider vinegar.

6. Switch from toothpaste to baking soda, in a spice shaker. Use a wooden compostable toothbrush.

7. Reduce your cosmetics and consider homemade substitutes such as cocoa powder as bronzer and homemade balm that works on eyes, lips, hair and nails and in lieu of disposable feminine products, invest in menstrual cup and reusable liners (the cup is personally all I need).

8. All you need for your nails is a nail clipper, stainless steel file and the homemade balm in my book for moisture and shine.

9. Forget about Q-tips, they are not good for you anyways.

10. YOU CAN ALSO... compost hair and nail clippings, put a brick in your toilet tank, collect water in a bucket while your shower heats and water your plants with it, and use zero waste cleaning: vinegar for mold, baking soda as scrub, a mix of baking soda and vinegar as drain cleaner (how to in the book)...

CLOSET

1. Stick to minimal wardrobes, shoes and purses.

2. Only shop a couple times a year to avoid compulsive buys.

3. Buy exclusively second-hand clothing

4. If you must buy new, buy a brand with an unconditional warranty (like these or this .

5. Be ruthless on fit, if it fits well, you're most likely to wear it.

6. Bring a reusable bag for your purchases.

7. Donate unworn pieces.

8. Keep some of your worn-out clothes for rags and label the rest as "rags" for Goodwill to recycle.

9. Learn of few sewing tricks (like shortening a hem or ).

10. YOU CAN ALSO... take it to the tailor for a better fit so you'll actually wear it, and keep a handkerchief in your purse/bag...

LAUNDRY AND CLEANING

1. Welcome natural cleaning alternatives: Castile soap on floors and sinks, white vinegar mix as an all purpose cleaner, baking soda for scrubbing jobs, and vinegar for mildew.

2. Welcome alternative house cleaning tools: a metal scourer on stainless, a wooden brush for light scrubbing, an old toothbrush for hard to reach places and rags for everything else (counters, floor, fridge, mirrors etc.)

3. Sweep your floors with a silk or boar bristle broom, wash with a wet rag attached to a mop and a few drops of c astile soap

4. Use worn-out clothing items made into rags on your un-washable messes (wax/auto grease/glue/caulk).

5. Buy dishwasher detergent in bulk and use white vinegar as a rinsing aid.

6. Let houseplants absorb toxins and clean your air. Open a window instead of plugging in an air freshener.

7. Laundry washing once a week saves time and dryer energy costs, use a laundry detergent sold in bulk, full loads, and cold water cycles as much as possible. Savon de Marseille , dishwasher detergent, chalk, lemon or vinegar work great on stains.

8. Dry on a line when possible.

9. Iron fewer things and use a homemade starch in a stainless spray bottle (recipe in the book).

10. YOU CAN ALSO... use wool dryer balls, find a sustainable dry cleaner (one that offers a reusable garment bag and non-toxic cleaners), compost dryer lint and dust bunnies...

DINING AND ENTERTAINING

1. Remember to bring extra jars to the grocery store when shopping for company (including take-out).

2. Make finger foods for larger parties and consider serving tap water with lemon slices instead of fizzy water.

3. Use glassware, ceramic dishes and cloth napkins at all times.

4. Avoid the use of serving platters/dishes: When serving straight onto dinner plates, it simplifies, saves water from extra cleaning, and it allows for a plate presentation.

5. Find creative ways to decorate your table with few napkin folding tricks, discarded leaves/branches from the yard, or just seasonal fruit...

6. Reuse empty votive tins (and the wick base) to make new votive candles for company with bulk beeswax and lead-free wick.

7. Stream music and videos online.

8. Bring a jar of a homemade consumable, or your favorite bulk item wrapped in Furoshiki as a hostess gift. Give the gift of an experience as a birthday present.

9. Educate your friends about your zero waste efforts (so they don't bring waste into your home)

10. YOU CAN ALSO... bring your own container for leftovers when dining out, use rechargeable batteries for those remote controls, try living without TV for a while...

OFFICE

1. Refuse, and therefore help stop the madness of the free-pen / free-pencil give-aways.

2. Use refillable pens, piston fountain pens, mechanical pencils, refillable white board markers and donate extra office material (paper, pencils) to your public school's art program.

3. Start your personal junk mail war, cancel your phone directories, and sign up for electronic bills and statements.

4. Reuse single-side printed paper for printing or making notepads held by a metal clip, reuse junk mail response envelopes and if buying new paper, choose recycled and packaged in paper.

5. Ditch the trash can, strive to use your compost and recycling bins exclusively.

6. Use, Reuse and Request recyclable paper packing material when shipping (incl. paper tape), print postage and addresses directly on your envelopes, use surface mail, use a return address stamp instead of stickers.

7. Reuse paper clips (available in bulk) instead of staples, or a staple-free stapler .

8. Use your library for magazines and books, sell your books or donate them to your library for other people to enjoy.

9. Use the cloud instead of memory sticks or external drives.

10. YOU CAN ALSO... use a power strip on your equipment, refill your printer cartridges, make paper with double-side printed paper, take packing material that you receive to your local shipping center for reuse...

MEDICATION

1. Keep only a minimal supply, so you can see what you have.

2. Ask your pharmacy to reuse your prescription jar. It's illegal for pharmacies to refill them in CA, but your state might allow it.

3. Choose tablets (pain reliever, for example) in a glass or at default a plastic jar (usually a recyclable #2), instead of the tablets individually wrapped in aluminum/plastic.

4. Do not buy jumbo size medication jars, they expire way before you can finish them.

5. Choose metal tubes instead of plastic.

6. Invest in a Neti pot : Great to clear out your sinuses with just water and sea salt.

7. Consider a few natural alternatives: a corn silk tea for prostate relief, a senna leaf tea for constipation relief or an oatmeal bath for skin relief.

8. Clean cuts and scrapes with soap and water, forgo the plastic band-aids and let air-dry.

9. Do not use everyday antibacterial products, they make bad bacteria stronger.

10. YOU CAN ALSO... reconsider your true need for vitamins (as opposed to a healthy varied diet) and use sunscreen moderately (you want neither skin cancer nor vitamin D deficiency)...

GARDENING

1. Use drought tolerant and native plants, replace your lawn with short native grasses.

2. Make room for compost. Consider a worm composter or an electric one if you live in an apartment, a separate pet composter for your dog's feces (how to in the book)

3. Occasionally pee at the base of your citrus plants, they'll thrive.

4. Return plastic containers to the nursery.

5. Find bulk seeds.

6. Give away plants and any landscaping item that you no longer want. Post them on the free section of Craigslist or Freecycle..

7. Find a bulk garden center, and refill reusable sand bags with dirt, rocks, compost, etc.

8. Consider investing in an irrigation controller with a rainwater sensor.

9. Install rainwater and gray water catchments (check your city ordinances for the latter).

10. YOU CAN ALSO... Keep a minimal and quality tool selection made of metal and wood (which can be repaired more easily)...

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My family generates a pint-size jar of trash per year, and so can you! Here are a 100 tips to drastically reduce your household's waste. Each section is a condensed version of a full chapter in my , so please consult it for further information, such as how-to's, recipes.

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How to make your cat live Zero Waste.

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Having a cat can pose a new set of obstacles to overcome when trying to avoid waste. The food, the litter, the treats, the toys. There are so many things that come with cat ownership that can lead to a mountain of trash. Below, I have put together a few tips that can either lead you to a completely waste free feline, or significantly reduce the amount of waste Mr. Fluffy Bottom produces.

Food

Buy your cat food in bulk.

There are several pet stores now that are selling pet food in bulk, which means without packaging. Take your own container/bag to the store and fill up. I typically look for wholesale pet stores because it's usually these locations that I find pet food in bulk. Also, make sure the quality of the food is still to your standards. I always value nutrition over packaging.

Make your own cat food.

Buy raw ingredients to make your own cat food instead of purchasing the kibble or canned food. Do this by taking your own containers to the butcher to have filled. There are some mixed reviews on whether or not it's better for your cat so I suggest you do your own research. Keep in mind that there are additional vitamins and minerals that cats will still require that you'll need to buy separately, in glass, to add to their food.

Buy your cat food in recyclable packaging.

More and more pet food companies are "going green" with their food packaging like TLC Pet Food. As long as the food quality lines up with what you feed your cat, opt for this option. Terracycle also offers a recycling program on certain pet food packaging, like plastic lined bags, that you can send to them.

Give your non-recyclable pet food bags a second life.

If none of the above suggestions work for you, you can at least give that bag a second life. Use the bag to fill up with thrift store donations, use them to transport mulch and soil back home from the landscaping store, use it to store your compost, turn it into a tote bag, or use it as your garbage can liner.

Litter Box

Having a zero waste litter box can be tricky. Especially, if you live in an apartment or rental. However, there are ways to do it or at the very least, reduce the overall waste the litter box can produce.

Use sawdust, mulch, or dirt as your "litter"

But will the cats use the box? Trust me they will. Some cats will take to a new litter a lot quicker than others so I recommend slowly incorporating the new stuff gradually. You can get sawdust, mulch, and dirt package free from your local landscaping store or even for free on sites such as Craigslist.com. Most traditional pet litters come with "fragrances" to minimize the odors. I just add baking soda in with mine to reduce the smell. Keeping the litter box maintained also helps.

Compost the doo-doo.

Using the natural cat litters allows you to compost the waste. Build a cat doo specific compost bin and keep it away from your garden.. Over time the poop and litter will naturally break down. You can use the compost when it has fully broken down, however, I would just stick to ornamental plants and not your garden produce - just to be safe.

Check to see if your local/city compost programs take animal waste.

If you don't have your own yard to compost you kitties' waste, check to see if your cities' compost program accepts animals waste. Some might.

Train your cat to go outside.

If you live in an area that isn't highly trafficked, you could train your cat to potty outside just like your dogs. I'm currently considering installing a "catio" to see if my kitties will start going outside rather than using the litter box indoors.

Buy bulk litter.

Some pet stores like Petco allow you to purchase your clay litter in bulk. This doesn't make it completely zero waste but does reduce the overall plastic waste that is getting sent to the landfill.

Buy litter in compostable packaging.

Purchase litter in paper bags or cardboard containers. That way, plastic waste is being reduced and the natural packaging can be composted.

Toys/Accessories

Utilize items you already have or make your own.

It's very easy to make cat toys from old ripped up clothing or by simply attaching a string to a stick. I even bring in pine cones from the yard for them to play with. A cardboard box is a house favorite among my feline herd - those usually keep them busy. We also make cat scratching posts from some scrap wood and rope. Cats will play with anything, they're not picky.

Cats can eat and drink out of bowls you already own, there's no need to buy anything special. Also, check around your house for something you can repurpose into a litter box. It's always better to try and make do with what you already have then to buy new.

Buy all natural/quality items.

Did you know that a lot of pet toys are made from or filled with plastic and are toxic? Instead of purchasing cheap toys from the store, regardless if they're packaged or not, always opt for the all natural/compostable toys. This ensures that, when they wear out, they can be composted and not sent to the dump.

One of my favorite all natural pet toy companies is Purrfectplay! Check out their amazing selection of pet safe toys!

Opt for second hand.

Thrift stores are great for finding second hand pet products such as toys, bowls, litter boxes, leashes, collars, you name it! Buying second hand takes new products out of the waste stream and is better for your wallet. Also, check friends and family for any items they'd give you for free.

Treats

Buy in Bulk.

Many pet stores have treats in bulk where you can skip the packaging and use your own containers.

Make homemade treats.

Make your kitty treats from scratch. There are many recipes out there that are quick, cheap, simple, and very healthy for your cat. It sure beats the questionable treats that you get at the store.

I hope I have covered everything that you've had questions on regarding "greening" your cat. With a few changes, the amount of waste your cat produces could be reduced quite a bit or even eliminated all together!

What do you do to reduce your kitties' waste?

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Having a cat can pose a new set of obstacles to overcome when trying to avoid waste. The food, the litter, the treats, the toys. There are so many things that come with cat ownership that can lead to a mountain of trash.

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Rauri H.    Gives you articals on how to change into Zero Waste.

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Rauri H.    Gives you articals on how to change into Zero Waste.

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Takeout creates a lot of trash. It doesn’t have to.

How do we break our addiction to plastic?

Going green shouldn’t be this hard

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Zero Waste 2020 | University of California

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Learn more about UC's commitment to zero waste and take the #MyLastTrash pledge.

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Tells you how to change your everyday items into zero waste.

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Trash is for Tossers - Zero Waste Living is Simple, Cost Effective, and Fun

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Zero Waste Living is Simple, Cost Effective, and Fun

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Your Diet can effect our climate change.

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Your Diet can effect our climate change.

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https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/how-your-diet-affects-climate-change

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Tyler Rhodes
- The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

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The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) is the largest of the five offshore plastic accumulation zones in the world's oceans. It is located halfway between Hawaii and California.
PLASTIC ACCUMULATION

It is estimated that 1.15 to 2.41 million tonnes of plastic are entering the ocean each year from rivers. More than half of this plastic is less dense than the water, meaning that it will not sink once it encounters the sea.

1.15 to 2.41 million metric tonnes of plastic are entering the ocean each year.

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The stronger, more buoyant plastics show resiliency in the marine environment, allowing them to be transported over extended distances. They persist at the sea surface as they make their way offshore, transported by converging currents and finally accumulating in the patch.

Once these plastics enter the gyre, they are unlikely to leave the area until they degrade into smaller microplastics under the effects of sun, waves and marine life. As more and more plastics are discarded into the environment, microplastic concentration in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch will only continue to increase.

ESTIMATION OF SIZE

The GPGP covers an estimated surface area of 1.6 million square kilometers, an area twice the size of Texas or three times the size of France.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch covers an estimated surface of 1.6 million square kilometers

To formulate this number, the team of scientists behind this research conducted the most elaborate sampling method ever coordinated.

This consisted of a fleet of 30 boats, 652 surface nets and two flights over the patch to gather aerial imagery of the debris.

Sampling at different locations within the same time period allowed a more accurate estimate of the size of the patch and the plastic drifting in it.

LOCATION

Due to seasonal and interannual variabilities of winds and currents, the GPGP's location and shape are constantly changing. Only floating objects that are predominantly influenced by currents and less by winds were likely to remain within the patch.

By simulating concentration levels in the North Pacific, the researchers were able to follow the location of the patch, demonstrating significant seasonal and interannual variations. On average the patch orbits around 32°N and 145°W. However, the team observed seasonal shift from west to east and substantial variations in latitude (North to South) depending on the year.

The Ocean Cleanup is currently cleaning up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch with System 03.

Learn more

Help fund our scale-up and let's make the Great Pacific Garbage Patch a thing of the past

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At the time of sampling, there were more than 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic in the patch that weigh an estimated 100,000 tonnes. These figures are much higher than previous calculations.
TOTAL MASS AND COUNT

100'000 tonnes of plastic float in the GPGP, equivalent to over 740 Boeing 777's

The mass of the plastic in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) was estimated to be approximately 100,000 tonnes, which is 4-16 times more than previous calculations. This weight is also equivalent to more than 740 Boeing 777s.

4 to 16 times more plastic in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch than Previously Estimated

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The center of the GPGP has the highest density and the further boundaries are the least dense.

A total of 1.8 trillion plastic pieces were estimated to be floating in the patch - a plastic count that is equivalent to 250 pieces of debris for every human in the world.

Using a similar approach as they did when figuring the mass, the team chose to employ conservative estimations of the plastic count. While 1.8 trillion is a mid-range value for the total count, their calculations estimated that it may be range from 1.1 to up to 3.6 trillion pieces.

Concentration

Using data from multiple reconnaissance missions, a mass concentration model was produced to visualize the plastic distribution in the patch.

The mass concentration model, pictured below, shows how the concentration levels gradually decrease by orders of magnitude towards the outside boundaries of the GPGP. The center concentration levels contain the highest density, reaching 100s of kg/km² while decreasing down to 10 kg/km² in the outermost region.

These results prove that plastic pollution at sea, while densely distributed within the patch, is scattered and does not form a solid mass, thus demystifying the trash island concept.

Vertical distribution

The Ocean Cleanup measured the vertical distribution of plastic during six expeditions between 2013 to 2015. Results from these expeditions proved that the buoyant plastic mass is distributed within the top few meters of the ocean.,

Factors such as wind speed, sea state, and plastic buoyancy will influence vertical mixing. However, buoyant plastic will eventually float back to the surface in calmer seas. Larger pieces were observed to resurface much more rapidly than smaller pieces.

Persistency

Characteristics of the debris in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, such as plastic type and age, prove that plastic has the capacity to persist in this region.

Plastic in the patch has also been measured since the 1970's and the calculations from subsequent years show that microplastic mass concentration is increasing exponentially - proving that the input of plastic in the patch is greater than the output. Unless sources are mitigated, this number will continue to rise.

The vast majority of plastics retrieved were made of rigid or hard polyethylene (PE) or polypropylene (PP), or derelict fishing gear (nets and ropes particularly). Ranging in size from small fragments to larger objects and meter-sized fishing nets.

Size classes

Plastic within the patch was categorized into four size classes:
- Microplastics (0.05 - 0.5 cm)
- Mesoplastics (0.5 - 5 cm)
- Macroplastics (5 - 50 cm)
- Megaplastics (anything above 50 cm)

92% of the total mass is made of debris larger than 5mm

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When accounting for the total mass, 92% of the debris found in the patch consists of objects larger than 0.5 cm, and three-quarters of the total mass is made of macro- and mega plastic. However, in terms of object count, 94% of the total is represented by microplastics.

Categorization types

75% to 86% of GPGP Plastics Comes from Fishing Activities

Once the plastics were collected, a team of volunteers classified the plastic into:
- Type H: Hard plastic, plastic sheet or film;
- Type N: Plastic lines, ropes, and fishing nets;
- Type P: Pre-production plastics (cylinders, spheres or disks);
- Type F: Fragments made of foamed materials

These plastic types were then screened for clues on age and origin. This was performed by examining each object for dates, languages, trademarks, symbols or 'made in' statements.

Why large debris matter

Because the plastics have been shown to persist in this region, they will likely break down into smaller plastics while floating in the GPGP.

This deterioration into microplastics is usually the result of sun exposure, waves, marine life, and temperature changes. Microplastics have been discovered floating within the water surface layers, but also in the water column or as far down as the ocean floor.

Once they become this small, microplastics are very difficult to remove and are often mistaken for food by marine animals.

Not only does plastic pollution in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch pose risks for the safety and health of marine animals, but there are health and economic implications for humans as well.

Impact on wildlife

Plastic has increasingly become a ubiquitous substance in the ocean. Due to its size and color, animals confuse the plastic for food, causing malnutrition; it poses entanglement risks and threatens their overall behavior, health, and existence.

84% of samples contained toxic chemicals

Studies have shown that about 900 species have encountered marine debris, and 92% of these interactions are with plastic. 17% of the species affected by plastic are on the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List of Threatened Species.

Toxic for Sea Surface Feeders

180X more plastic than food at the surface of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

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Floating at the surface of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) is 180x more plastic than marine life. Animals migrating through or inhabiting this area are then likely consuming plastic in the patch. For example, sea turtles by-caught in fisheries operating within and around the patch can have up to 74% (by dry weight) of their diets composed of ocean plastics. Laysan albatross chicks from Kure Atoll and Oahu Island have around 45% of their wet mass composed of plastics from surface waters of the GPGP.

Since 84% of this plastic was found to have at least one Persistent Bio-accumulative Toxic Persistent Bio-accumulative Toxic (PBT) chemical, animals consuming this debris are therefore ingesting the chemicals attached to the plastic.
Entanglement of Marine Life
Fishing nets account for 46% of the mass in the GPGP and they can be dangerous for animals who swim or collide into them and cannot extract themselves from the net. Interaction with these discarded nets, also known as ghost nets , often results in the death of the marine life involved.

Impact on Humans and Society

Once plastic enters the marine food web, there is a possibility that it will contaminate the human food chain as well. Efforts to clean and eradicate ocean plastic have also caused significant financial burdens.

Plastic pollution costs 13B dollars per year.

Affects the Human Foodchain

Through a process called bioaccumulation, chemicals in plastics will enter the body of the animal feeding on the plastic, and as the feeder becomes prey, the chemicals will pass to the predator - making their way up the food web that includes humans. These chemicals that affected the plastic feeders could then be present within the human as well.

Affects the Economy

According to a study conducted in collaboration with Deloitte, yearly economic costs due to marine plastic are estimated to be between $6-19bn USD. The costs stem from its impact on tourism, fisheries and aquaculture, and (governmental) cleanups. These costs do not include the impact on human health and the marine ecosystem (due to insufficient research available). This means that intercepting plastic in rivers is much more cost-effective than dealing with the consequences downstream. Learn more in our interactive map.

Resulting from several research missions, traveling across and above the GPGP, The Ocean Cleanup team compiled an unprecedented amount of data to better understand the plastic that persists in this region.

Boyan Slat - The New Picture of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (2018)

Research Expeditions

"To accurately quantify a problem of the size, we had to do research at a scale that had never been done before" - Boyan Slat

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Scientists have been studying this area since the 1970's - usually by means of dragging a small sampling net through the debris. This method showed a bias towards smaller objects and did not provide much insight into the larger pieces, and, thus, the entire scope of the GPGP.

Over the course of three years, researchers at The Ocean Cleanup went on several data collection missions. This included the Multi-Level-Trawl expedition, where they analyzed the depth at which buoyant plastic debris may be vertically distributed; the Mega Expedition using vessels to cross the patch with many trawls at once; and the Aerial Expedition which involved the use of a plane flying at low altitude to observe the debris from above.

2015 - Multi-Level-Trawl Expedition

Realizing that previous methods of analyzing the plastic in the patch needed improvement, The Ocean Cleanup designed a new research tool, called the multi-level-trawl, which allowed measurements of 11 water layers simultaneously going as far down as 5 meters below surface level. This trawl was then used in the Vertical Distribution Research.

The multi-level-trawl allowed the team to study further down into the water and understand to which depths buoyant plastic may be distributed. Through these studies, it was observed that buoyant plastic floats primarily in the first few meters of the water.

2015 - Mega Expedition

In 2015, 30 vessels and 652 surface nets, in parallel, crossed the GPGP as part of the Mega Expedition.
Numerous vessel owners offered the use of their ships for the mission. Of those ships, many carried behind them a Manta-trawl; including one mothership, the 171ft long Ocean Starr, which was able to carry two 6-meter-wide trawls and a survey balloon.

The fleet returned with over 1.2 million plastic samples that rendered an unprecedented amount of plastic measurements from the three months of study. Scientists present on the expedition noted that there was an alarming amount of plastic floating in the patch, and their preliminary findings indicated that there were more large objects than originally expected.

2016 - Aerial Expedition

After the Mega Expedition, the team wanted to learn more about these large plastic pieces that were difficult to come by. Megaplastics are more scattered than the smaller plastics, and, to study this important aspect of the patch, the team needed to cover an even larger area.

Using a C-130 Hercules aircraft, The Ocean Cleanup surveyed 311 km² with advanced sensors and an RGB camera (CS-4800i) that captured one photo every second of flight time. They took two flights and came back with over 7,000 single frame mosaics from the mission.

Ocean Research Laboratory

Once the ocean plastic was brought back to the Netherlands, it then needed to be counted, classified and analyzed.

Counting and Classifying

The first step in analyzing the plastic was to quantify it - to turn this physical matter into data.

Every piece of plastic that was recovered was cleaned, counted and classified by size and type. In total, 1.2 million plastic samples were counted, one by one, and were used to further study the physical properties and toxicity of the plastic that floats in the GPGP.

The Research team takes on the monumental task of counting and classifying the Mega Expedition samples.

Understanding Physical Properties

Not only is the size and count of the plastic in the GPGP important to calculate, but the way in which the plastic interacts in the water helps the team learn more about the buoyancy and depths of the plastic.

To test this, various experiments were performed on the plastic in environments that were intended to replicate oceanic conditions and particularly salinity. Laboratory tests were conducted to measure the vertical speed of the plastic as it resurfaces.

More than 4000 rising speed tests to understand how plastic particles behave in the water.

Understanding Toxicity

It is commonly known that harmful PBT (Persistent Bio-accumulative Toxic) chemicals are found in ocean plastics, so researchers at The Ocean Cleanup tested plastic samples from the expeditions for their chemical levels. Their results helped them to realize what chemicals are present in the patch and what that means for animals feeding there.

Plastics ranging from various type and size were analyzed by placing them in mixtures that would allow the various chemicals to be identified. A process known as Chromatography. They found through various tests that 84% of the plastics in the GPGP contain at least one type of PBT chemical.

Ocean Plastic Data Science

Numerous computational and mathematical processes and methods were used throughout the study of the GPGP, allowing the team to visualize and characterize many features of the patch and the plastic within it.

Turning Ocean Plastic into Data

When the manta trawls samples were captured and then brought on the vessel, several criteria were noted in the datasheets, including the date, duration, and final coordinates of each tow.

With this information, the team was able to identify the exact location where the plastic was retrieved. The location and duration of all tows were confirmed during a post-processing phase by inspecting all the recorded datasheets against GPS trackers that were installed on all participating vessels. The total distance of tows, for example, combined with the net's characteristics allowed the researchers to estimate the total surveyed surface.

Process Aerial Expedition Data

Aboard the C-130 Hercules aircraft used for the Aerial Expedition were three types of sensors: Lidar (an advanced active sensor that is similar to that used on Google's autonomous cars), SWIR imager (an infrared camera to detect ocean plastic) and an RGB camera.

There were 3 sensor technicians, 7 navigation personnel and 10 researchers who helped track the plastic from above and monitor the equipment on board.

The data from this expedition were then analyzed and processed resulting in multispectral and geo-referenced imagery that was used to screen the surface area for plastic by trained observers and a machine-learning algorithm, providing spatial distribution of larger debris (>0.5m).

A Key to Convert Pixels into Kilograms

The mass of the plastic debris in the GPGP was calculated using imagery from the Aerial Expedition. By comparing the top view surface against dry mass of multiple objects collected during the first expedition at sea, including ghost nets, the team was able to make these estimations.

Merge all the Data into Comprehensive Computer Models

The data and imagery gathered from these objectives were eventually used by our team of computational modelers to build various models and computer-generated graphics. These served as a visual representation of the studies and tests that had been performed during the expeditions.

Research of this nature is crucial when understanding the many facets of the GPGP. These models have helped the engineers at The Ocean Cleanup to further improve the design of the cleanup system, which was deployed mid-2018.

We also use modeling to identify the pathways that bring plastic to the gyres. In 2022 our researchers published a new study based on over 6000 plastic objects (over 5 cm in size) captured in the GPGP by our System 001/B cleaning system in 2019. We then compared our field observations with our 'virtual particle' modeling results, allowing us to see the most statistically probable sources of GPGP plastic.

This indicated that over 75% of plastics in the GPGP - not only the 46% made up of fishing nets, as we discovered in 2018 - are attributable to offshore fishing activities. More research will be required in order to discover if this also applies to the other garbage patches around the world.

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The Great Pacific Garbage Patch * The Ocean Cleanup

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The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is the largest accumulation of ocean plastic in the world and is located between Hawaii and California. Scientists of The Ocean Cleanup Foundation have conducted the most extensive analysis ever of this area.

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http://trashisfortossers.com/compost-lets-break-it-down-literally/

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Electric cars do have pros, but there are only certain ways to get the lithium inside the batteries.

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If you believe the headlines, traditional automobiles are speeding toward a dead end. All those V8s, V6s and turbocharged vehicles we've grown to love will soon be replaced by squadrons of clean, whisper-quiet, all-electric vehicles. And if you believe the headlines, the environment will be much better off.

Policymakers at every level have done their part to push electric vehicles by creating a tankful of subsidies. Thanks to laws signed by both George W. Bush and Barack Obama, electric-vehicle buyers can feast on federal tax credits of up to $7,500 that reduce the initial purchase cost of their vehicles. Not to be outdone, many states also dangle their own mix of goodies for electric vehicle buyers, including purchase rebates as large as $5,000, additional rebates for vehicle chargers, and free use of public charging stations-which, of course, are only "free" because they're subsidized by ratepayers and taxpayers. Some states even give electric vehicles preferential access to carpool lanes.

Then there are the electric vehicle mandates. In January, California Gov. Jerry Brown decreed that 5 million electric vehicles must be on his state's roads by 2025, along with 250,000 charging stations. Eight other states are following California's lead. One California lawmaker has even introduced legislation to ban all internal combustion vehicles by 2040.

All of this might make sense if electric vehicles, as their supporters claim, were truly likely to reduce air pollution and tackle climate change. But are they?

To answer that question, I used the U.S. Energy Information Administration's most recent long-term forecasts for the number of new electric vehicles through 2050, estimated how much electricity they'd use, and then figured out how much pollution that electricity would generate, looking at three key pollutants regulated under the U.S. Clean Air Act-sulfur dioxide (SO ₂), oxides of nitrogen (NO X), and particulates-as well as CO ₂ emissions. I compared them to the emissions of new gasoline-powered vehicles, using the EIA's "real world" miles-per-gallon forecast, rather than the higher CAFE standard values.

What I found is that widespread adoption of electric vehicles nationwide will likely increase air pollution compared with new internal combustion vehicles. You read that right: more electric cars and trucks will mean more pollution.

That might sound counterintuitive: After all, won't replacing a 30-year old, smoke-belching Oldsmobile with a new electric vehicle reduce air pollution? Yes, of course. But that's also where many electric vehicle proponents' arguments run off the road: they fail to consider just how clean and efficient new internal combustion vehicles are. The appropriate comparison for evaluating the benefits of all those electric vehicle subsidies and mandates isn't the difference between an electric vehicle and an old gas-guzzler; it's the difference between an electric car and a new gas car. And new internal combustion engines are really clean. Today's vehicles emit only about 1% of the pollution than they did in the 1960s, and new innovations continue to improve those engines' efficiency and cleanliness.

And as for that electric car: The energy doesn't come from nowhere. Cars are charged from the nation's electrical grid, which means that they're only as "clean" as America's mix of power sources. Those are getting cleaner, but we still generate power mainly by burning fossil fuels: natural gas is our biggest source of electricity, and is projected to increase. And coal, while still declining, will remain the second largest source of electricity for some time. (Third is nuclear power, which doesn't generate emissions but has other byproducts that worry some environmentalists.) Even with large increases in wind and solar generation, the EIA projects that the nation's electric generating mix will be just 30% renewable by 2030. Based on that forecast, if the EIA's projected number of electric vehicles were replaced with new internal combustion vehicles, air pollution would actually decrease -and this holds true even if you include the emissions from oil refineries that manufacture gasoline.

As for states like California with stringent mandates to use more renewable energy for their power grid, they also have the highest electric rates in the continental US, 50% higher than the US average. And electric rates in those states just keep increasing. So it's a cleaner power mix, but makes recharging your car more expensive. The higher the electric rate, the lower the incentive for a new car buyer to purchase an electric vehicle.

As for greenhouse-gas emissions, my analysis shows that electric vehicles will reduce them compared to new internal combustion vehicles. But based on the EIA's projection of the number of new electric vehicles, the net reduction in CO ₂ emissions between 2018 and 2050 would be only about one-half of one percent of total forecast U.S. energy-related carbon emissions. Such a small change will have no impact whatsoever on climate, and thus have no economic benefit.

So, if electric-vehicle subsidies don't help the environment, what-or who-do they help? Most electric-vehicle buyers are far wealthier than average Americans. A nationwide survey in 2017 found that 56% had household incomes of at least $100,000 and 17% had household incomes of at least $200,000. (In 2016, median household income for the US as a whole was less than $58,000.)So it's fair to say the subsidies disproportionately benefit the wealthy at the expense of the poor, who cannot afford to buy even subsidized electric vehicles or live in their own homes to take advantage of residential chargers or solar panels.

Not only that, the wires and charging stations needed to charge all those electric vehicles will be paid for by all ratepayers, further raising electric rates. And as more wealthy customers install solar panels to charge their electric vehicles, the costs to provide them back-up power will fall on those who cannot afford to do so.

In effect, the wealthy owners of electric vehicles will enjoy the benefits of their clean, silent cars, while passing on many of the costs of keeping their vehicles on the road to everyone else, especially the poor.

To be sure, electric cars are impressive. Some are quicker off the line than a Formula 1 race car. But there is no economic or environmental justification for the many billions of dollars in subsidies that America is already paying to speed their adoption.

So what to do? First, Congress should immediately terminate those electric-vehicle tax credits, which just benefit the wealthy. Congress should also eliminate zero-emissions credits, which electric-vehicle manufacturers have used to boost their bottom line - $860 million for Tesla alone in the last three years. And third, states should eliminate their various subsidies for electric vehicles and charging infrastructure, which are also paid for disproportionately by the poor and are contributing to rising electric rates.

Electric vehicle subsidies and mandates share an unfortunate, and all too common trait with other government policies: They're based on "conventional wisdom" that turns out to be wrong. Wealthy consumers who have purchased Teslas and Chevy Bolts primarily to signal their green bona fides for their friends and neighbors, and who have socialized many of the costs of their purchases to those who are less well-off, might wish to take a closer look at the numbers. Their hands may not be quite so clean as they believe.
Jonathan Lesser is the President of Continental Economics, an economic and regulatory consulting firm. His new report, "Short Circuit: The High Cost of Electric Vehicle Subsidies" was published by the Manhattan Institute on May 15.

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Are electric cars worse for the environment?

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If you believe the headlines, traditional automobiles are speeding toward a dead end. All those V8s, V6s and turbocharged vehicles we've grown to love will soon be replaced by squadrons of clean, whisper-quiet, all-electric vehicles. And if you believe the headlines, the environment will be much better off.

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https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/longform/what-you-need-know-about-food-waste-and-climate-change

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https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/longform/how-food-label-confusion-hurting-climate

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https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/longform/zero-waste

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The 5 major trash islands

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Plastic in water rate

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Greenhouse Gas continents percent

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Living a life with less (or even free of) waste doesn't happen overnight, but there are simple and creative ways to start.

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Food waste is bad for the environment

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7 inspiring government food waste campaigns foodservice can learn from

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Many countries have been implementing new policies aiming at reducing food waste. We’ve collected some government initiatives on the issue from around the world

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Reducing waste at your home and food at your home

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Most people don't realize how much food they throw away every day - from uneaten leftovers to spoiled produce to parts of fruits and vegetables that could be eaten or repurposed.

One-third of all food in the United States goes uneaten. EPA estimates that in 2019, about 96 percent of households' wasted food ended up in landfills, combustion facilities, or down the drain to the sewer system. The remainder was composted.

Preventing food from going to waste is one of the easiest and most powerful actions you can take to save money and lower your climate change footprint by reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and conserving natural resources.
On this page:

Save money by buying only what you need, eating what you buy, and avoiding throwing away food. The average family of four spends $1,500 each year on food that ends up uneaten.

Reduce your environmental and climate change footprint.

Conserve resources and energy. When food is wasted, the land, water, energy, and other inputs that are used in producing, processing, transporting, preparing, storing, and disposing the food are wasted as well.

More than 85 percent of GHG emissions from landfilled food waste result from activities prior to food entering a landfill, including the production, transport, processing, and distribution of food. Plus, when food decomposes in a landfill, methane, a potent greenhouse gas, is emitted-and food is the single largest category of material placed in municipal landfills third-largest source of human-related methane emissions in the United States

Ways to Prevent Wasted Food at Home

Planning, prepping, and storing food can help your household waste less food. Below are some tips to help you do just that:

Making a list with weekly meals in mind can save you money and time. If you only buy what you expect to use, you will be more likely to keep it fresh and use it all.

Keep a running list of meals and their ingredients that your household already enjoys - that way, you can easily choose, shop for, and prepare meals that you are likely to consume.

Look in your refrigerator, freezer, and pantry first to avoid buying food you already have. Make a list each week of what needs to be used up and plan upcoming meals around it.

Plan your meals for the week before you go shopping and buy only the things needed for those meals.

Make your shopping list based on how many meals you'll eat at home. Consider how often you will eat out, if you plan to eat frozen precooked meals, and if you will eat leftovers for any of your meals.

Include quantities on your shopping list noting how many meals you'll make with each item to avoid overbuying. For example: "salad greens - enough for two lunches".

Buying in large quantities (e.g., buy one, get one free deals) only saves money if you use all the food before it spoils.

Buying food from bulk bins can save you money and reduce food waste and packaging as you can purchase the amount of food you need as opposed to a pre-determined amount. When buying in bulk, remember to store food properly in airtight, labeled containers.

Purchase imperfect produce or upcycled products. Imperfect produce may have physical imperfections but is just as safe and nutritious and can sometimes be found at discounted prices. Upcycled products are made from ingredients that might have otherwise gone to waste.

Toolkit for Your Home and Your Community

The Food: Too Good to Waste Toolkit will help you figure out how much food is really going to waste in your home and what you can do to waste less. By making small shifts in how you shop for, prepare, and store food, you can save time and money. It can also keep the valuable resources used to produce and distribute food from going to waste!

Food: Too Good to Waste also contains an Implementation Guide that is designed to teach local governments and community organizations how to implement a Food: Too Good to Waste campaign in their community using the Toolkit.

If You Can't Reduce Wasted Food, Divert It From Landfills

Resources

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA):
Information for Consumers
Infographic- Easy Steps to Prevent Food Waste ( English, Chinese, Spanish)
Video - Tips to Reduce Food Waste at Home
Video- Plan Ahead to Reduce Food Waste ( English, Spanish)

Video- Serve Smart to Reduce Food Waste ( English, Spanish)

Video- Love Your Leftovers to Reduce Food Waste ( English, Spanish)
MyPlate- Meal Planning Refrigeration and Food Safety FoodKeeper App
U.S. Food and Drug Administration(FDA):
How to Cut Food Waste and Maintain Food Safety
Date Labels on Packaged Foods & Infographic

Tips to Reduce Food Waste (including three infographics)
Food Waste Facts Infographic Animated Videos with Information on:

Tips to reduce food waste

Understanding date labels on packaged foods

The impact of food waste

Imperfect produce

Sources

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Most people don't realize how much food they throw away every day - from uneaten leftovers to spoiled produce to parts of fruits and vegetables that could be eaten or repurposed. One-third of all food in the United States goes uneaten.

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Reducing food waste by only 15% would be enough to feed more than 25 million Americans per year.

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Reducing food waste by only 15% would be enough to feed more than 25 million Americans per year.

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Cars cause heat waves in the air which can cause hotter summers.

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En español: Carros, camiones, buses y la contaminación del aire >

Dirty cars, dirty air
Download the factsheet >
Cars, trucks, and buses powered by fossil fuels are major contributors to air pollution-transportation emits more than half of nitrogen oxides in our air, and is a major source of global warming emissions in the US. Studies have linked pollutants from vehicle exhaust to adverse impacts on nearly every organ system in the body.

While this air pollution carries significant risks for human health and the environment, through clean vehicle and fuel technologies, we can significantly reduce emissions from our cars and trucks, while cutting projected U.S. oil use in half within the next 20 years.

The ingredients of air pollution

Cars, trucks and buses produce air pollution throughout their life cycle, including pollution emitted during vehicle operation and fuel production. Additional emissions are associated with refining and distribution of fuels and to a lesser extent, manufacturing and disposal of the vehicle.

Air pollution from cars, trucks and buses is split into primary and secondary pollution. Primary pollution is emitted directly into the atmosphere; secondary pollution results from chemical reactions between pollutants in the atmosphere. Fetuses, newborn children, and people with chronic illnesses are especially susceptible to the effects of air pollutants. The following are the major pollutants from motor vehicles:

Particulate matter (PM). One type of particulate matter is the soot seen in vehicle exhaust. Fine particles - less than one-tenth the diameter of a human hair - pose a serious threat to human health, as they can penetrate deep into the lungs. PM can be a primary pollutant or a secondary pollutant from hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur dioxides. Diesel exhaust is a major contributor to PM pollution.

Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). These pollutants react with nitrogen oxides in the presence of sunlight to form ground level ozone, a main ingredient in smog. Though beneficial in the upper atmosphere, at the ground level this gas irritates the respiratory system, causing coughing, choking, and reduced lung capacity. VOCs emitted from cars, trucks and buses - which include the toxic air pollutants benzene, acetaldehyde, and 1,3-butadiene - are linked to different types of cancer.

Nitrogen oxides (NO x). These pollutants form ground level ozone and particulate matter (secondary). Also harmful as a primary pollutant, NOx can cause lung irritation and weaken the body's defenses against respiratory infections such as pneumonia and influenza.

Carbon monoxide (CO). This odorless, colorless, and poisonous gas is formed by the combustion of fossil fuels such as gasoline and is emitted primarily from cars and trucks. When inhaled, CO blocks oxygen from the brain, heart, and other vital organs.

Sulfur dioxide (SO₂). Power plants and motor vehicles create this pollutant by burning sulfur-containing fuels, especially diesel and coal. Sulfur dioxide can react in the atmosphere to form fine particles and, as other air pollutants, poses the largest health risk to young children and asthmatics.

Greenhouse gases. Motor vehicles also emit pollutants, predominantly carbon dioxide, that contribute to global climate change. In fact, tailpipe emissions from cars, trucks and buses account for over one-fifth of the United States' total global warming pollution; transportation, which includes and airplanes, trains and ships accounts for around thirty percent of all heat-trapping gas emissions.

The effects of air pollution

Pollutants from vehicle exhaust can affect more than just your lungs. Indeed, tailpipe pollutants pose health risks at every stage of life, and can even cause premature death. But the impacts of climate change, driven by global warming emissions, also affect people's health and the well-being of entire communities. Global warming is leading to more frequent and intense heat waves-especially risky to children and elderly people-and to sea level rise, flooding, and drought that can devastate local communities.

People in low-income communities and communities of color are disproportionately exposed to higher levels of air pollution. Marginalized by urban segregation in American cities, these communities are often located near freight centers and heavily traveled roadways, and can lack access to the resources to adapt to-or move away from-air pollution and climate-related damage.

Emissions from heavy-duty vehicles
Download the fact sheet >
Trucks and buses play a major role in our lives, hauling goods from manufacturers to stores, picking up our trash, delivering packages, and transporting thousands of people around cities, everyday. But these vehicles also also greatly affect public health and global warming

Heavy-duty vehicles comprise only about 5 percent of all vehicles on the road, yet they generate more than 25 percent of global warming emissions that come from the transportation sector, and significant amounts of air pollution. As the United States moves more and more freight each year, the challenge of reducing emissions from this sector will continue to grow.

Addressing heavy-duty vehicle pollution is critical for improving air quality and reducing global warming emissions in communities around the country. Continuing to lower emissions from fossil fuel-powered trucks is an important first step.

The clean air benefits of electric trucks and buses

Just as electric cars are helping to reduce pollution from passenger vehicles, with new technological developments, like electric trucks and buses, we have a unique opportunity to eliminate tailpipe pollution entirely, and increase the development of clean, renewable electricity and hydrogen.

In addition to emitting no harmful tailpipe pollution, electric trucks and buses have significantly lower global warming emissions than vehicles powered by fossil fuels. A battery-electric bus on today's electricity grid is the lowest-carbon option in every part of the country.
Listen to Jimmy O'Dea talk about heavy duty electric vehicles on the Got Science? Podcast:
Battery- and fuel cell-electric trucks and buses, especially transit buses, are already operating in cities across the United States, and these fleets continue to expand as new models become available. A growing number of cities are committed to 100 percent zero-emission transit buses in their fleets-including New York and Los Angeles, which represent the two largest bus fleets in the country.

Cleaner air is on its way

The right policies and investments from federal, state, and municipal governments will accelerate the transition to a zero-emissions transportation system. These include setting targets for electric truck and bus adoption, enacting standards for manufacturers to make more of these types of vehicles, and developing and funding incentive programs to help cities and companies achieve these goals.

These policies and investments should also ensure that workers from marginalized communities gain access to training and job opportunities, and that electric vehicle deployment is prioritized in the communities already breathing the dirtiest air.

Learn more: Cleaning up California's Freight System >

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En español: Carros, camiones, buses y la contaminación del aire > Download the factsheet > Cars, trucks, and buses powered by fossil fuels are major contributors to air pollution-transportation emits more than half of nitrogen oxides in our air, and is a major source of global warming emissions in the US.