Surprising Creatures Lurk in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch – Scientific American

Polyethylene heat welded sculpture made to demonstrate the great Oceanic Gyres created by waste. This artwork is part of a collection titled "The creation of Plastikos" (by Simon MAX Bannister, CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia).

Scientists have long known that critters such as worms, crustaceans and mollusks could make their home on plastic debris. Animals have even crossed the Pacific Ocean on these makeshift rafts after a devastating tsunami struck Japan in 2011. But new research published on April 17 in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution adds two details that could be concerning for existing ecosystems. First, it finds that plastic is providing a home for coastal species to thrive in the open ocean thousands of miles from shore. Second, some of these species are reproducing despite the alien environment…

Here’s why a California beach town just banned balloons – the Grist

The Blue Balloon (by Simon James CC BY-SA 2.0 via Flickr)

Celebrations in a beachside California city will soon have to take place without an iconic, single-use party favor: balloons.

The city council of Laguna Beach, about 50 miles southeast of Los Angeles, banned the sale and use of all types of balloons on Tuesday, citing their contribution to ocean litter as well as risks from potential fires when they hit power lines…

Regional Emmy® Award-Winning TRASH TALK – NOAA

Video Still from TRASH TALK Special Feature (by USOCEAN.gov and NOAA)

Don’t you think it’s time we all have an honest trash talk? Ocean Today, in partnership with the NOAA Marine Debris Program, presents Regional Emmy® Award-winning TRASH TALK, a 15-minute special feature on marine debris for World Ocean Day. It is specially designed to be part of your World Ocean Day festivities and beyond…

The Reality of Recycling Plastic

Plastic (by Mike Carney CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 via Flickr)

Industry makes 380 million tons of plastic every year and none of it is truly recyclable.
Greenpeace has just released a report in October calling out the plastic industry for greenwashing the status of plastic recycling by continuing to employ the familiar “chasing arrows” recycling symbol on their products, when the truth is that recycling plastic has been a near-complete failure…