TerraCycle CEO, Tom Szaky, has a new approach to product packaging that will help reduse plastic waste in the futrue. His approach, Loop, modernizes the simple approach used by workers like milk men who deliver goods straight to the cosumer.
The process starts when customers order Loop items online. Those items will be packaged in containers that should last up to 100 uses and shipped straight to the consumer. Once the container is empty the consumer leaves it on their doopstep in the Loop tote to be picked-up. Packages are then cleaned, refilled, and returned to the consumer.
This takes pressure away from the consumer and places it on the large coorporations to produce a more sustainable packaging. Many large cooporations have already signed on as Loop partners!
Read more here.
Last year, the volunteers from our Stranding Network responded to a dead great white shark at Beer Can Beach. A necropsy was perfomed by veterinary pathologist, Mark Okihiro, and the findings lead to a criminal investigation. The investigation has now come to a close as a man from San Jose was convicted for the shooting and killing of the great white shark that day. The man was fined $5000 and is on probation for the next two years.
Read more about the investigation here.
Many big corporations sell items wrapped in plastics, particularly satches, to poorer countires such as those in Southeast Asia. This allows people to purchase something they need without buying a lot, for example, shampoo in packets, snacks in smaller packaging, etc. However, this type of packaging is not recylcable and because these countries do not have efficient waste management, much of the plastic waste ends up in the ocean. Froilan Grate is an environmental activist from the Philippines that is taking on the big brands behind plastic waste. He and a group called Break Free from Plastic, are doing brand audits to create a list and quantify all the brand names found during beach clean ups and publicize them for everyone to see. The strategy is to put pressure on big companies to reduce plastic waste, and to show consumers what they are supporting when purchasing a product. The brand audits are a growing initiative, and here at the Long Marine Lab Stranding Network, we are happy to include them during our beach surveys in our Survey Slug Program.
Check out the article on the big brands behind plastic waste here.
Recently a bill was approved by Congress that lifted some of the restrictions on the Marine Mammal Protection Act, allowing for capture and euthanasia of sea lion by pacific northwest tribes to protect salmon populations. Some wildlife managers say that sea lions do not need all of the protections from 1972 because their populations have gotten so big. Some critics say that this is not the way to solve the decreasing salmon population. Read more here.
