Art - Watershed -1500 plastic water bottles per second

Graphic designers create an installation using 1500 plastic water bottles, the number used each second in the United States.

Source: inhabit.com

Ocean Health - California, Oregon, Washington

In 2006, the governors of California, Oregon and Washington states launched a regional collaboration to protect and manage ocean and coastal resources along the entire West Coast of the United States.

See:

• Executive Overview - Draft Work Plans - May 2009
• Draft Work Plan - Polluted Runoff
• Draft Work Plan - Marine Debris
  
• Final Action Plan - July 2008
• a FULL list of documents

Source: westcoastoceans.gov

Article - Bottled water outlawed in New York State agencies

In May 2009, the governor of New York State has banned public sector offices from using bottled water:

Taxpayers have spent billions of dollars to ensure that we have clean drinking water supplies

If we are going to make such significant investments, we should reap the benefits and use that water.

Source: fairhome.co.uk

Visualization - Through The Gyre

From Good Magazine / Transparency ,
( A graphical exploration of the data that surrounds us )

This visualization represents the distribution of plastic (by size) in the Pacific Gyre.

Once at Good Magazine, make sure you

• click on the image, OR
• scroll down and click on the [Launch Infographic] link

This will give you a MUCH LARGER view, with readable explanatory text surrounding the image.

Source: Good Magazine / Transparency

26 billion liters of bottled water and counting ...

Take 5 minutes with this slideshow, alternately title "Water Disaster" or "The Water Bottle Problem".

Learn the impact of the 26,000,000,000 liters of bottled water our world uses each year.

You can view it by:

• seeing an online slideshow
• downloading a powerpoint
• viewing a pdf
• with music, on youtube

Source: unknown

Article - Message in a Bottle

This three part article appeared in the May 2009 issue of Sierra Magazine. This quote from the introduction is as succinct as it can get:

Plastic never goes away, and
scientists are finding that it
absorbs toxins with spongelike efficiency.

The fix?
Cut it off at the source.

The article, by David Ferris, is in three parts:

1. The Captain - Charles Moore, of Algalita
2. The Scientist - Richard Thompson, Professor of Marine Ecology
3. The Lawyer - Drew Bohan, California Ocean Protection Council
   

Source: Sierra Club