Turtle with a girdle

Meet Mae West, poster child turtle of the conservation world. Got caught in a plastic ring as a baby turtle, here she is years later....a living example of how durable plastics are.

Plastic Sushi

Exactly a year ago, I wrote an article for the Santa Monica Mirror about keeping plastic out of our sushi.

Little did I know then that we would document three new fish species this year that are ingesting plastic. This summer, sailing across the Pacific JUNK, Marcus caught a rainbow runner with 17 plastic fragments in its belly. Plastic is slowly but surely becoming an unwanted part of our food chain.

Hungry as they were after 2 months at sea, they tossed this one.....














Here is the video account from JUNK.

Interview w/ BYO and JUNK on At Home Naturally

This past summer, I met Sherry Beall, producer and host of “Healthy Planet, Healthy Me!” on KPFK 90.7FM. After showing her a Gyre sample, a Bring Your Own bag, and a photo of JUNK, she invited me to be a guest on her show.

She put together a wonderful program - Part 1 featuring Captain Charles Moore discussing Algalita's research on the plastic marine debris issue:



And part 2 with me discussing Bring Your Own, and a Satellite phone call in interview from Marcus on JUNK, in the middle of the Pacific!

Plastic industry finds BPA safe!

Phew. I was worried, especially after Canada became the first country to ban BPA in bottles, acting on research that links BPA exposure to breast and prostrate cancer, diabetes, and hyperactivity, to name a few.

But according to research funded by the American Chemistry Council, we have nothing to worry about. Unless the following expose from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel gives you pause:

"Although the Food and Drug Administration will not reveal who prepared its draft, the agency's own documents show that the work was done primarily by those with the most to gain by downplaying concerns about the safety of the chemical."


If you still wonder about BPA's safety, this overview - from a study by Frederick Vom Saal might help - 12 out of 12 studies funded by Chemical Corporations find it perfectly.....safe.

Martha chats JUNK (and BYO bags!)

A few weeks back, Martha Stewart had Marcus on her show to talk about JUNK and the plastics issue - an incredible opportunity to spread our message to millions of viewers - an audience we wouldn't often reach through our normal outreach channels.

In my completely unbiased opinion, Marcus did a phenomenal job communicating some of the key plastics hazards in a very short 6 minutes:



And in the solutions discussion, Martha featured a few of my reusable produce bags made from old t-shirts! Which will soon be available on my revamped website, coming soon.....

BYO on Whole Life Times!

A little late posting this, but finally getting back to the blog, and my reusable bags now that JUNK has landed!

So it was great timing that Whole Life Times featured Bring Your Own in their October issue


















Coming up next, see Marcus, JUNK, and BYO bags featured on the Martha Stewart Show!

Junk PSA #2: A Plastic Filled Ocean