November 2012

Gobsmacked is a word that Australians and Brits use when they need a combo of amazed, indignant and flummox.  It is a great word and the only word to describe what I felt when a M.A. State Rep shared comments from a constituent regarding her efforts to curb harmful pollution. It reminded me that we have a long road ahead of us and that disseminating accurate information backed my science is so important for spreading the word about the critical issue of pollution effecting our planet and our health.

Here is the note sent to the State Rep. BE GOBSMACKED:

“Really, are you kidding me? You must really have nothing else better to do in our district. Show us some serious hard evidence how it’s harming the environment? It takes more energy and electricity to produce a paper cup than it does a Styrofoam one. Perhaps you should do some research first before wasting the tax payers time and money proposing absolute non sense.”

Claire moved to M.A. from the UK with her husband and three boys in 2011. She says she loved the “energy of New England.” She was invited to the our very first W2O event with National Geographic photographer Brian Skerry and loved his inspirational images of our majestic oceans. She then attended Plastic Pollution Coalition founder Dianna Cohen’s “Plastic in the Oceans, Plastic in You” presentation which she found “shocking”.  Claires experiences in the UK regarding the usage of plastic bags is quite different than what she has found here in M.A. “There are only four or five big store chains capturing 90% of the grocery market.  They are influenced by government policy and public opinion and have embarked on a campaign to discourage usage of plastic grocery bags by making them a visible eyesore of bright orange.  Famous designers like Anya Hindmarsh helped promote the image of the reusable bag as a fashion accessory  making it chic to carry to the grocery store.”  Claire agrees that you can’t change peoples habits over night but that bringing attention to the issue and encouraging small steps towards the refusal of single use plastic can help.  She loves that her boys have learned so much at school about conservation…and about fish.

 Our friends at CSIRO in Australia are gearing up for summer. Lucky them!! But summer is beach time and although the beaches of Australia are some of the most beautiful in the world, like here, they are becoming more and more polluted with single use plastic waste. Dr. Denise Hardesty leads a team of scientists, school students and community members who have been working their way around the Australian coastline taking note of the garbage that has washed up on the beach. From light globes to cigarette butts, you name it, they’ve probably found it. And now Denise is offering her time to talk about the project live on our Ustream channel (www.ustream.tv/channel/csiro-events) Thursday at 6pm US time. “Marine debris is a major threat to Australia’s wildlife,” said Denise. “So that we can better manage this problem, we’re studying its sources and effects.”

As a result of their research the team are hoping to achieve three things.

1. Compile a list of which species are more or less likely to be affected by marine rubbish
2. Estimate the effects that things like currents, local population, council and state waste management policies (e.g. rubbish bins and bottle refunds) and other factors have on the amount of rubbish in the ocean; and
3. Identify a set of sites that can be used to monitor both marine rubbish and its impacts on wildlife over the long term and at a low cost.

“Our goal is to support people, both politicians and consumers, in making decisions about their behaviour and their investments that are based on scientific information,” said Denise.

Interested to learn more? Get your questions ready and join us on our Ustream channel tomorrow November 15th at 6pm U.S. time or from 10am till 10.30am (AEDST-Australia). All you need is a computer and internet connection, so no excuses.

Contact: Fiona Henderson [email protected].

The national marine debris research is part of TeachWild, a national three-year research and education program developed by Earthwatch Australia together with CSIRO and Founding Partner Shell.

Sandy Destruction at the Jersey Shore

In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, costal development and engineering is one of the many issues coming into the light. This article calls attention to how the destruction of the beaches of New Jersey could be partially attributed to the fact that those sands were not naturally occurring, but actually existed solely because of the importation of sand, referred to as “Beach Nourishment” from offshore.

It begs the question, where did these “offshore” sands come from? What sort of ocean environments were disturbed in the creation of these beaches? Additonally, what sort of terrestrial and oceanic environments were harmed as Sandy redistributed these sands? Finally, do the benefits outweigh the costs?

Hillary Chisolm is a senior studying Environmental Studies at Bates College in Maine