Inappropriate Eats Fish Consume Plastic from Human Trash


The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, as dubbed by scientists, is a region of float- ing trash in the ocean that is twice the size of Texas. It comprises plastic debris that includes toys, cups, wrappers and bottles that slowly degrade from the sun’s rays and wave action into ever-smaller fragments until fish often mistake them for food. This finding, from a new study by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, could have serious implications for the food chain.


Scientists examined 141 fish across 27 species and estimated that small fish were eating as much as 24,000 tons of plastic waste each year, mostly tidbits smaller than a fingernail, and that nearly one in 10 fish in the region had plastic in its stomach. Most fish in the study were lantern fish, which dwell at depths of 650 to 3,200 feet during the day, but then swim near the surface at night to feed on plankton, where they often gulp plastic by mistake. Small fragments of plastic could leach toxins into the fish, stunt their


growth, alter reproduction or even kill them. It is unclear what impact that small, plastic-affected fish have upon larger fish that eat them, and ultimately on hu- man fish-eaters.


Water Wiz Science Project Saves a Gusher


Out of the mouths of babes sometimes comes great wisdom. Seven-year-old Mason Perez won a school science fair in Reno, Nevada, for his project address- ing water usage efficiency. Now, two years later, the principles he outlined have been used to save his city tens of thousands of gallons of water. The Reno Gazette-Journal reports


that the boy’s inspiration came from an experience in a baseball field restroom, where he found the pressure of the sink’s faucet excessive. He turned it down and it still worked fine. For the project, Perez used a bucket and a stopwatch to mea- sure water flow at several residences. By reducing the pressure while maintaining usability, he recorded savings of up to 24 percent. He repeated his experiments at several local businesses with the same positive results.


Because the default position for


valves in new construction is often 100 percent open, it is a simple procedure to adjust them to achieve a more efficient rate. Perez convinced the ballpark’s man- ager to try it, resulting in a 20 percent water savings for the municipal facility. The local utility, Truckee Meadows Water Authority, is now assessing whether the idea can be implemented in other parks, public schools, casinos and private homes.


Source: Treehugger.com


Appliance Awareness Home Electronics Getting Greener


Greenpeace has compiled their third annual survey of the “greenest” home electronics products from 18 compa- nies in seven categories—desktops, laptops, netbooks, mobile phones, tele- visions, monitors and smart phones— based on their environmental impact (tinyurl.com/23pxpsc). Considerations included hazardous substances, power consumption, product lifecycle (re- cycling potential) and innovation in marketing (carbon footprint). The survey found a significant


overall reduction in the use of hazard- ous chemicals since last year, with more products made without toxic polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and brominated fire retardant (BFR). The use of phthalates, beryllium and antimony (heavy metals) and their associated compounds also went down in every category. Almost all products submitted for


the survey met or exceeded the current Energy Star standards established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. However, one conclusion of the report is that companies seemed to put more effort into improving the overall energy efficiency of operating their products rather than reducing the embedded energy, or carbon footprint, involved in manufacturing them. Lifecycle management continues to be the weakest eco-link when it comes to electronics production. The researchers found little use of recycled plastic, take-back practices, and mar- keting efforts aimed to prevent rapid obsolescence.


Source: Greenpeace natural awakenings October 2011 17


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