About This Blog

The "Plastics And Us" blog is maintained by volunteers from Island County Beach Watchers, a group supported by the county's WSU Extension.

We live on Whidbey and Camano Islands in Puget Sound in the Pacific Northwest of the United States.

We are very concerned about the impact of over- and careless- use of plastics, and the subsequent impact on the quality of the marine environment all around us, and the fellow creatures who share it with us.

As we find helpful information across the Internet, we will post it here for you.

WSU Island County Beach Watchers
WSU Extension - Island County

Animation - 21st Century Waterfalls

See this article and video which highlights the rate at which we
recycle (and DO NOT recycle) bottled water bottles.

Source:

• Professor Doug James, Cornell University,
• (riseaboveplastics.blogspot.com)

Brochure - Problems with Plastic

See this brochure (.pdf) for answers to:

• what are the problems that plastics are causing now,
• how long do things take to degrade in the ocean,
• what are some things we can do about it

Source: WSU Beach Watchers - Island County.

Video - World's Oceans Face Plastic Pollution Problem

Please see this excellent video report from PBS - the Online NewsHour - that discusses

• how our plastic junk ends up in a large garbage 'gyre' in the Pacific Ocean.
• how that quantity of trash affects fish, marine mammals and birds.

Other resources:

• transcript

Source: PBS - Plastic Oceans

Quiz: Plastic Recycling Quiz

PBS posted this Plastics Recycling Quiz in November 2008, as part of its series on "Plastic Oceans".

Source: PBS - Plastic Oceans

MRRP Overview

See this succinct 8 page slideshow on a Monofilament Recovery and Recycle Program for a quick intro, and how to pictures.

As the author states:

Wouldn’t it be nice to collect all the discarded monofilament line from all Washington beaches?
 
LET’S DO IT!

Source: WSU Island County Extension - Beach Watchers

Make A Suggestion

Have you found an error?

Do you have a suggestion for a new topic,
or in general, how we might improve this site.

Send us email at plasticsandus@gmail.com

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