Thursday, September 27, 2007

Monday, September 24, 2007

First Flush

Or, "How three plastic nerds spend a rainy saturday morning for kicks".

First Flush, a poetic sounding term for a less savory phenomenon, when that long awaited first rain of the season washes our unsightly urban crap - garbage, chemical spillage, animal waste, pesticides, oil, human-gastrointestinal viruses, etc. - into storm drains and out to sea, leaving our streets nice and clean again. Phew.

I mean eeew......


After last friday night's downpour, Marcus, Sara and I headed down to the Ballona Creek for a morning after reality check.




















According to Heal the Bay, this year's first flush was of particular concern, as we've had one of the driest seasons in 130 years.....


Here are some images of what we found:






















Is it me, or does that not look like a floating plastic body?




Lighters and syringes and toys, oh my....





What happens to your disposables when you love 'em and leave 'em.






































Thank god someone else is picking up after us.........

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Plastic Bag Monster strikes again!



Readers, beware....there have been several recent sightings of the dreaded bag monster, on the loose again.

The bag monster has been wreaking havoc in San Fracisco, and stalking young women nationwide.

So far no one has been able to catch him.

To avoid any unfortunate run ins with this sinister synthetic scoundrel, make sure you are prepared: Bring Your Own.

Friday, September 07, 2007

Setting sail for the Garbage Patch



A guided marine meditation:

Vacation day one. You’re standing on a sleek sailboat, gazing out to sea as a light breeze toys with your hair and fills your sails. Endless miles of open ocean stretch in all directions, creating an azure canvas upon which float:


274,000 used toothbrushes, 23,547 lighters, 456,782 plastic bags, 7,600 disposable diapers, 23,409 (insert favorite plastic item here).

Meet The Garbage Patch. The words largest landfill – in the ocean.

That this issue is finally beginning to attract more attention is largely due to the work of Captain Charles Moore and the Algalita Marine Research Foundation. Charles stumbled upon the garbage patch in 1997, and has since dived into the issue full force.


Charles and his intrepid crew set sail for the garbage patch yesterday aboard the Oceanic Research Vessel (ORV) Alguita. For the next 3 weeks, they will study this nasty phenomenon, collecting samples and info to better understand the scope.

You can check their progress on the Ship 2 Shore blog, as well as here – I’ll be following the journey closely, wishing I were there in person....their findings will remind me of why the issue moves me so.


And will fuel me to keep pushing this one, simple solution: Bring Your Own.