Article - Sea of Trash

In Sea of Trash - Pollution in the World's Oceans, Donovan Hohn tells a story of volunteer efforts to clean up marine debris (mostly plastics) from remote Alaska shorelines and forest. The debris arrives there via ocean currents, just as it gets to the Pacific Gyre. In two weeks, a crew of ten bagged over 30 tons of debris.

But, he says ...

As nearly everyone I spoke to about marine debris agrees,
the best way to get trash out of our waterways is,
of course, to keep it from entering them in the first place

Hohn provides an excellent overview of the many people who are working this problem - from understanding its dimensions, to raising public awareness, to the complex issues of political reality.

Source: NY Times

Art - Urban Tumbleweeds - 2663 plastic bags per second

Source: inhabit.com

Quiz: Plastic A-B-Cs

It crops up in everything from clothes to coffee canisters, but how much do you really know about plain, old plastic?

Try this challenging quiz

Source: National Geographic - Green Guide

Thirst for bottled water unleashes flood of environmental concerns

This article, from the Ithaca (NY) Journal gives a good overview of all the issues raised by our increasing use of single-use plastic water bottles.

Read the full article here.

Source: USA Today

Overview - Reusable Water Bottles

So you've decided to kick the single-use plastic water bottle habit,

You are fine at home, or at a restaurant, where you can just use tap water. But what about when you are traveling - to a local meeting or cross country.

For most people, the choice of a reusable water container comes down to one made of:
aluminum, OR BPA-free plastic, OR stainless steel.

See this comprehensive review of water bottles by consumersearch.com, which collects the best reviews from other sites, analyzes them, and summarizes them for you. Be sure to click on the [What to Look For] tab, and also the [Full Report].

Source: consumersearch.com - June 2008

Report - Tackling Marine Debris in the 21st Century

This 219 page report, Tackling Marine Debris in the 21st Century, was written by the Committee on the Effectiveness of International and National Measures to Prevent and Reduce Marine Debris and Its Impacts, from the National Academy of Sciences.

You can view the report page by page at the link above. You can also download the entire book, or just selected chapters - but may need to login and give your email in order to do so.

Source: The National Academies Press, Washington, DC