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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.


Dolphonic Symphony by Jerry LoFaro


After ruling out his initial career choices of paleontologist, zoologist, baseball player and Good Humor ice cream man, Jerry LoFaro parlayed his lifetime interest in dinosaurs and other animals, fantasy, art history and literature into a successful career as an illustrator. His art—always striking and often


humorous—has been featured on book covers for major publishers and in adver- tising and promotional campaigns for clients including Nike, Disney, National Geographic, The Discovery Channel and TIME magazine. Celestial Seasonings has commissioned LoFaro to create tea, coffee and seasonings package designs, even entrusting him to update the com- pany’s famous icon, Sleepytime Bear. Recently, he was honored with a Gold Medal from the Society of Illustrators. “Superficially, I’d describe my work


as realism,” says LoFaro. “However, much of what I’ve done in content is conceptual, with surreal flourishes.” Prior to 2002, he worked primarily with acrylics; now, he uses Photoshop to create digital art. LoFaro also treasures the rural beauty of his New Hampshire sur- roundings and confides, “My life re- volves around walking out to my studio in the woods, listening to great music and being creative.”


View the artist’s portfolio at JerryLoFaro.com. 12


Rockland & Orange Counties


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, Ne- vada, for his project addressing water usage efficiency. Now, two years later, the prin- ciples 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 experi- ence in a baseball field restroom, where he found the pressure of the sink’s faucet exces- sive. He turned it down and it still worked fine. For the project, Perez used a bucket and a stopwatch to measure water flow at several residences. By reducing the pressure while maintaining usability, he recorded savings of up to 24 percent. He repeated his experi- ments at several local businesses with the same positive results. Because the default position for valves in new construction is often 100 per- cent open, it is a simple procedure to adjust them to achieve a more efficient rate. Perez convinced the ballpark’s manager to try it, resulting in a 20 percent water savings for the municipal facility. The local utility, Truckee Meadows Water Author- ity, is now assessing whether the idea can be implemented in other parks, public schools, casinos and private homes.


Source: Treehugger.com naturalawakeningsro.com


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