Gull Update ~ Be Ocean Mined

I spared you . . . no photo with this 'report'. So sorry to tell you that my gull friend is now soaring in the heavens above . . . Stepping onto the beach with my husband yesterday afternoon I found the remains of what I feel certain is the "gluttonous gull". I've witnessed owls scanning the beach at dusk and what they don't grab, coyotes and raccoons will finish off. My husband was surprised at my calmness over finding the torn body of the bird. The real possibility that the poor creature was going to slowly suffer was a much worse fate than what I believe he experienced. I am at peace with natures way of dealing with a difficult situation . . . most of the time. This is a link Utube video ~ seagull eats starfish I found on Utube after my friend Evie directed me there to another seagull/starfish encounter.

 

FINE FOR LITTERING THE BEACH ~ $1,000.00

I really despise the cluttering of our beautiful coastline with signs but I tolerate this one because I'm so passionate about the subject matter  . . . trash. Don't even get me started on my rant about trash on the beach! Somehow there is confusion about what constitutes 'trash'. If you brought it in and there is any remnant of it left, take it out. And yes, that includes orange peels. How would you feel if someone peeled an orange, dropped the peelings on your front lawn and then when you ask them to pick it up they tell you, "calm down, it's biodegradable". Enough said. Thank you.

3.5.11 beach trash

NPR online did a post and audio about how a study found that most plastics leach chemicals. Ah, ya. That was difficult to figure out. Study: Most Plastics Leach Hormone-Like Chemicals.  

I had a very interesting half hour conversation with a gentleman that was a 50-year veteran salesman for his plastics company. He told me that your average plastic bag can have 9 layers of plastic each with different chemical compounds. This was shocking news to me. I am committed to ridding my life of plastic and I am not ashamed to tell you that it's not the easiest thing to do. Long ago we switched to stainless steel and glass bottles for our water and smoothies. I got rid of my 30-year stash of Tupperware and now use glass (but with snap down heavy plastic lids). But the plastic pollution is never  ending! My camera is plastic! My dang house and cell phones are plastic! My computer mouse, the keys on my keyboard, both of my printers, my document shredder, my favorite Maui Jim sunglasses are plastic (bloody expensive plastic!). You get the point. Plastic is everywhere. So how do we stop our dependence on the stuff? Or can we? 

One of my favorite websites is, My Plastic-free Life.  Beth Terry takes her readers on her no-plastics journey. I highly recommend Beth's site for well researched information and her fun and humorous posts. 

I strive to get rid of as much plastic in my life as possible but not sure I can do a plastic-free life. What steps are you taking to get plastic out of your life?

it’s what I can do . . .

It makes my stomach hurt when I see blue plastic dog poop bags flying around at the beach. What’s worse is to find a bag full of poop lying in the sand. I know that if I don’t pick it up it will most likely be snatched by the next high tide and taken out to sea to eventually join the rest of the plastic soup. So hesitantly, I pick it up.

Following the lead of my mentor, Beth Terry, from her blog, ‘My Plastic Free Life’, http://myplasticfreelife.com. I contacted Sonoma County Regional Park Service and began an email conversation with ‘James’. At first, 'James' politely gave me the brush-off with all sorts of facts about why they used the little blue plastic bags and that these bags are ‘biodegradable,’ and “thank you for your concern”, and have a nice day, leave me alone . . . that sort of email conversation.

But ‘James’ doesn’t know me. He doesn’t know that I’ve taken these blue plastic bags on as a personal mission. He doesn’t know that I walk the beach where I live several times a week and that I’ve developed a sort-of ‘ownership’ about this beach. He doesn’t know that it was not only my livelihood but my passion that had me doing years of research, writing, and educating about environmental destruction and animal welfare. He doesn’t know that I set up a ‘Rethinking Plastics’ table for CoastWalk, http://www.coastwalk.org/index.htm during Coastal Cleanup Day at one of our local beaches last September, and it was a huge success because people care about our beaches. He didn’t know all this but I think he’s getting it.

After my third or fourth email reply to ‘James’ his last response was enthusiastic and encouraging. He sees the possibility for change and I am thrilled!