Why Plastics And the Seas Don’t Mix

“I now believe plastic debris to be the most common surface feature of the world’s oceans.” This is the sobering statement of Charles Moore, founder of The Algalita Marine Research Foundation, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit dedicated to the preservation of the marine environment. Pelagic plastic is responsible for the fatalities of hundreds of thousands of marine organisms every year. It’s not a new problem; it’s simply gone unnoticed. The trouble with plastic is that it hangs around forever, and with a 60-year long track record of dumping it into the ocean, we might need a miracle to make a difference now.

In an effort to increase public awareness, CalPIRG sponsored the first Ocean Festival at UC Berkeley. Slated as the finale to UC Berkeley’s Earthweek events, attendees enjoyed two live bands, a dance performance by Danceworx and participated in a variety of leisure activities that some might file under the “only at Berkeley” category (face painting, hanging plastic ornaments onto a drift net, cutting plastic six-pack holders, etc.). Volunteers distributed food and samples of biodegradable plastic wares to the sound of local rock band The Michetons and the Los Angeles-based group Wet Brain, and Captain Charles Moore himself delivered the keynote address. In it, Captain Moore described and denounced with passionate conviction the current backwards paradigm of the “Age of Plastics”: an age of single-use, non-recyclable fast food containers, an age in which Californians throw away 600 plastic bags per second and an age in which world production of a non-renewable material that never goes away increases without check, even as the recycling rate of that same material silently declines, unnoticed.

The good news is that California legislature has tuned in to the crisis, responding with a number of promising bills that target marine debris and plastic production at large. The directives of the bills range from reduction and sustainability efforts (Assembly Bill 820, for example, will ban all polystyrene products from being used in state facilities) to damage control (Assembly Bill 258 implements a program with a target goal of zero plastic pellet discharges into coastal waters).

If Assembly Bill 904 passes, you may not have to feel guilty when (in a temporary lapse of judgement, of course) you indulge in an over-packaged fast food meal—the bill requires fast food providers to use only recyclable materials. Senate Bill 898 targets illegal waste disposal into storm drains, and Assembly Bill 899 will initiate the phasing out of plastics containing chemicals potentially harmful or toxic to the environment.

The legislative process is extremely intensive and time-consuming, but student actions have the power to let California’s legislators know that this is an issue students take seriously, increasing the odds of passing these landmark bills and others like them. After all, it should not take a miracle for California to secure a sustainable future for its $46 billion, ocean-dependent economy.

And what can you do, you ask? Again, no groundbreaking acts of civil disobedience need be committed. You’ve heard it all before, and yet it still rings true: Call and write your legislators. Ask Assemblywoman Loni Hancock and Senator Joseph Simitian what their plans are for ocean conservation. Be proactive at home—simple acts can curb the flow of trash that finds its way into the ocean. Buy products with minimal packaging. Use cloth bags instead of plastic ones. Invest in a canteen, and take steps to eliminate non-recyclable plastic containers from your refrigerator.

It’s been hard to ignore the green-toned buzz of the media over the past year. With global warming dominating the front pages of newspapers worldwide, environmental topics that haven’t seen a news cycle since the first Earth Day are now reaching even those who (gasp!) reside outside the bright green Berkeley bubble that many of us as UC Berkeley students take for granted. But in two hours on April 20, 2007, CalPIRG and all those who attended The Ocean Festival ’07 raised over $400 for the Algalita Foundation.

It didn’t take a miracle—just conscientious people who gathered, however briefly, behind an important issue. Likewise, it won’t take a miracle for this issue to become recognized—all it takes is people, becoming informed.

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