Single plastic filaments pose another pollution problem on beaches

We associate beach litter with large items such as plastic bottles, plastic bags and sheeting netting, but emphasis has been placed on other categories of plastic waste such as nurdles (https://www.nurdlehunt.org.uk/whats-the-problem.html)  and micro-plastics.  However, the other day while walking along the lovely beach at Brittas Bay in County Wicklow (Ireland) I was pleased to see that there was no large litter to be seen along its 2 km length.  There were a few small plastic strips okay but the beach looked lovely and clean.  I even checked  for nurdles…nothing…wonderful.  

All along the beach were little bundles of organic debris, a mixture of seaweed and other plant

material, which looked lovely and natural.  So I thought I would take a photograph and to my surprise something coloured took my attention inside the small bundle.  The upshot of this revelation was that each one of these lovely little bundles of natural material was held together by plastic filaments.  Usually single blue strands, some with strands of transparent mono-filament net, others contained  more obvious black netting.  There were thousands of these little bundles all along the intertidal zone.  I was totally astonished and unaware of the effect these small plastic fragments were having and the possible consequences for the marine food chain.  It would seem that we have yet another category of marine plastic pollution.

Nick Gray

Trash is for Tossers: say NO to trash

‘Trash is for Tossers (say NO to trash)’ is the blog of  Lauren Singer who is trying to live a zero waste life in the heart of New York City.  She is sharing her journey towards this excellent goal, although I suspect it is going to be a tough one. She has one great quote ‘I really decided that I not only needed to claim to love the environment, but actually live like I love the environment’.  She also gives two really interesting and helpful definitions:

Waste …’a  point source, meaning it is discarded by its holder with intent of it going to landfill. Trash is anything a person plans to throw away or anything a person deems obsolete that is then discarded in a manner where it will not be intended for re-purposing or reuse even if it unknowingly will be at some point in the future. ‘

Zero Waste means that I do not produce any garbage. No sending anything to landfill, no throwing anything in a trash can, nothing. However, I do recycle and I do compost. 

Lauren is really on the right path here and I for one will be following her journey and learn from her experiences.

@Trashis4Tossers

Nick Gray 
@nickgraytcd

Ireland's Greenhouse Gas Emissions 2012

Ireland's greenhouse gas emissions rose by 1% in 2012 to 57.92 million tonnes, reversing a six year downward trend.  This was primarily due to a 5.9%  increase in emissions from power generation using coal and peat, and a 3% increase from the agricultural sector due to increased livestock numbers.  Industrial and commercial emissions rose by 1.8% overall, although the cement industry alone showed a 18% increase in emissions as the economy begins to recover. Transport, residential and waste emissions all fell by 3.5, 5.9 and 2.7% respectively. The reduction in residential emissions is thought to be due to the mild winter while the reduction in waste emissions is due to a 11.7% reduction in methane emissions from landfill sites.

EPA emissions by category 1990-2012. Image.

The EPA has blamed low carbon prices for the increased use of peat and coal for electricity generation and has  called for the decoupling of carbon emissions from economic growth.

For a full news briefing: Link

Explore the full Report: Ireland's Greenhouse GasInventory 1990-2012

Nick Gray

Food Wastage

Food Wastage in this Country is a huge problem, statistics show that about a third of all the food we buy gets thrown out.  Excessive quantities of food waste can be attributed to overbuying, unnecessary meal preparation or poor storage. According to Stopfoodwaste.ie which is a website run by the Environmental Protection Agency, the average Irish person produces about 280 kg of waste each year with the majority of that being due to organic wastage (37%). Out of this, 6% is due to garden waste and a massive 31% is due to food waste. Not even taking into account the cost of waste disposal, only the cost of the wasted food, the average Irish person can spend €700 - €1000 a year on food that is just thrown away.

In order for me to really comprehend and put into context how much food is being wasted, I have been keeping a diary on how much food is wasted in my house. I have included novel ways in which I can reduce my family’s food wastage on three of the biggest wastage areas there was in our house-fruit and vegetable peels and unfinished dinner plates.  

For some people the first thing they need in the morning is coffee, for me its juice. I like to make myself a large glass of freshly squeezed orange juice every morning in order to wake up. I normally use two large oranges for this (sometimes three smaller ones if that’s what we have in the house). Over a week this amounts to 14-21 oranges that I just throw in the compost bin after I juice them-this is not even taking into account the oranges used for the rest of the family.  At the start of this experiment I never really thought of this as wastage, I was using most of the orange and just throwing away the scraps, but the skins of oranges and other citrus fruit are full of flavour and vitamins and can be utilized fully before throwing them out. The average orange can make up to two tablespoons of zest, and a lemon, one tablespoon. In order to avoid wastage I learnt that you can zest or make twists out of your citrus fruits utilize this many different ways. Zest freezes really well in an airtight container and can be taken out when needed for baking or cooking.  It can also be used to add flavour to such things as olive oil, honey, sugar, pepper or vinegar simply by adding twists of the peel to them and letting the flavours infuse. Not only does adding citrus peel to olive flavour it, it also reinvigorates oil that’s getting old.

As a normal Irish family, we eat a lot of potatoes. When preparing dinner its normal that we just chuck all the potato skins into the compost. In order to try reducing this I attempted to make ‘Potato skin crisps’ I laid what would normally be considered ‘scraps’ on to a baking tray, brushed with some olive oil, chili powder and salt. I put them in the over for 15minutes and what came out was a delicious crispy snack which I will most defiantly be making in the future.

Portion size was another problem in my family whereby there would be a lot of food left over on our plates after dinner that was just thrown out. In order to combat this, I have insisted that everyone only puts a small amount on their plate to begin with and then goes back for more if they are still hungry. This means that only the food that is wanted is eaten and the rest that is left is put in the freezer for another day and not thrown away.

When I started doing this project to see how much food waste there was in my house I wasn’t aware of how much was actually wasted and was appalled by what I found out. I have learnt a lot from this experience and have now become much stricter at trying to utilize the entire product before throwing it away. I have also been paying a lot more attention to the storage instructions on products so that they don’t go off due to my carelessness, And as I have mentioned before I have been more aware of portion sizes when taking my own food.

Fiona O' Sullivan

Bill Gates on Zero Carbon Energy

Bill Gates presents an interesting TED talk about the need to develop alternative energy sources to develop Zero carbon emissions globally by 2050.  The thing that comes over for me is the need to set a realistic and fixed price for carbon emissions to stimulate the type of research that we need right now.

Waste Storage Efficiency

I feel that improvement should be given on the recycling of household plastic and metal materials such as bottles, cans, etc. A problem with storing these materials for appropriate recycling is that they take up a lot of space in the home if not compressed properly, thus the containers they are kept in can overflow very easily, which not only discourages people from maintaining them for recycling, but also, for many, results in frequent visits to the recycling units.

^{Compression of recyclable material would allow more to be stored efficiently}

However, if households were to contain a small yet strong compressor for these materials in order to flatten them completely, more of them can be stored between recycles. The amount of carbon emissions which would go into making these handy compressors would thus be returned by the increase in waste material recycled appropriately and the reduction of recycling trips required. This means that excess material would no longer have to be inappropriately discarded until enough space has been freed-up to dispose of them properly.

Sarah Malone