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The Skimmer Fall 2018

Editor: Charley Winterbauer

The Perils of Plastic

From National Geographic

What have we done? This is not a new problem but it is becoming more and more

critical.

Sorry for the graphic image but this 2nd

small picture is what happens when birds eat plastic thinking it is food. The first image

is obvious, unable to eat.

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What are we trying to do with this article? If only one person takes a new action to

reduce the use of plastic, then this is a success.

Let’s touch on more discouraging facts from multiple sources.

+Up to 90% of seabirds have plastic in their guts.

+It is now believed that there are 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic debris in the ocean.

+At least two thirds of the world’s fish stock is suffering from plastic ingestion.

+Approximately 1 million seabirds die from plastic each year.

+A trillion (1,000,000,000,000 or a million million) plastic bags are used worldwide each

year and the average use life of a plastic bag is 15 minutes.

+Lifetime of plastic is from 450 years to forever. Actually the plastic in its smallest

form is around forever. Your plastic toys you or your child used is still around

somewhere.

+ Plastics being heated (in sunlight) will emit gases into the air

+More than 40% of plastic items are used once and then tossed.

+Some 9 million tons of it end up in the ocean each year.

+Globally, only 18 % of plastic is recycled.

This list could go for several pages.

Plastic type education:

PET-Polyethylene terephthalate: Mainly beverage bottles- easy recyclable

HDPE-High density polyethylene: Detergent and bleach bottles- easy recyclable

PVC-Polyvinyl chloride: Credit cards, gutters, pipes, etc- very difficult to recycle

LDPE-Low density polyethylene: packaging film, shopping bags-manageable recycle

PP-Polypropylene: Bottle tops, drinking straws, insulated coolers-manageable recycle

PS-Polystyrene: plastic foam cups, egg boxes, packing peanuts- difficult recycle

OTHER-Nylon fabrics, baby bottles, compact disks, medical containers- very difficult

Technical Report from the American Academy of Pediatrics, AAP (black print

directly from the article)

Food Additives and Child Health Increasing scientific evidence suggests potential adverse effects on children’s health from synthetic chemicals used as food additives, both those deliberately added to food during processing (direct) and those used in materials that may contaminate food as part of packaging or manufacturing (indirect).

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Here is a table which summarizes some of the effects

The AAP is particularly concerned about food contact substances associated with the disruption of the endocrine system in early life, when the developmental programming of organ systems is susceptible to permanent and lifelong disruption. Children may be particularly susceptible to the effects of these compounds because they have higher relative exposures compared with adults (because of greater dietary intake per pound), their metabolic (ie, detoxification) systems are still developing, and key organ systems are undergoing substantial changes and maturations

Some good news

Arthur Huang has created a solar-powered Trashpresso which turns plastic

waste into small tiles that can be used to build walls and floors. His company,

Miniwiz, has been transforming waste into furniture, accessories, buildings and even a

small airplane.

Boyan Slat, 23, from the Netherlands, is charging ahead with his teenage vow to

clean up the largest garbage patch in the North Pacific. His organization has raised

more than $30 million to construct an ocean-sweeping machine that is still under

development.

Bonnie Monteleone of UNCW continues her research on ways to reduce or

eliminate the plastic crisis. She guided me on some of the topics in this piece. My

thanks to her.

More good news The president signed the Save our Seas Act October 2018

Save Our Seas Act of 2017 or the SOS Act of 2017

(Sec. 2) This bill amends the Marine Debris Act to revise the Marine Debris Program to require the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to work with: (1) other agencies to address both land- and sea-based sources of marine debris, and (2) the Department of State and other agencies to promote international action to reduce the incidence of marine debris.

(Sec. 3) The bill also revises the program by allowing NOAA to make sums available for assisting in the cleanup and response required by severe marine debris events.

(Sec. 4) The bill urges the President to:

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support funding for research and development of bio-based and other alternatives or environmentally feasible improvements to materials that reduce municipal solid waste;

work with foreign countries that contribute the most to the global marine debris problem in order to find a solution to the problem;

study issues related to marine debris, including the economic impacts of marine debris; and

Encourage the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to consider the impact of marine debris in relevant future trade agreements.

(Sec. 5) The Interagency Marine Debris Coordinating Committee must expand to include a senior official from the State Department and from the Department of the Interior.

(Sec. 6) This bill reauthorizes for FY2018-FY2022: (1) the Marine Debris Program, (2) an information clearinghouse on marine debris, and (3) enforcement of laws about discarded marine debris from ships.

So you want to do something?

Eight things you can do and feel no pain. Give yourself 10 points for each one. 1. Give up plastic bags 2. Skip straws or use metal or glass straws 3 Pass up plastic bottles 4 Avoid plastic packaging (very difficult) 5 Recycle what you can 6 Don’t litter 7 Take Aluminum foil to restaurant to wrap take home left over (foil easily folded to take along) 8 Take a walk and pick up litter Can you get 80 points?

Summary Of all the efforts to solve the plastic problem, many think that the solution is a change

in behavior, that is, reduce the use of plastic. This solution has the disadvantage of

taking a significant time but once behavior changes, it should be permanent. We see

some of that idea being implemented. The Earth Fare stores are offering milk and

other beverages in glass bottles. More folks are using cloth bags at stores; some states

are banning the use of plastic bags.

One more item, go to www.pbs.org and do a search on plastic. A huge number of

topics will show up on a wide variety of plastic.

Anatomy of a Bird Walk The announcement:

Sat, Nov 3, 2018 8:00am - 11:00am | US/Eastern

Description

Ev-Henwood Nature Preserve is a favorite for autumn birding. Please meet in the parking area down the main driveway at 8:00 am. Contact: Gretchen Schramm Email: gretchenschramm7@gmail.com Phone: 910 399-5078

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Location Details Ev-Henwood Nature Preserve 6132 Rock Creek Road NE Leland NC

Gretchen Schramm organizes our bird walks and in this case is leading the walk.

Gretchen The 174 acre preserve located in Brunswick County is owned and managed by UNC

Wilmington.

Anyone can visit EV-Henwood.

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The participants:

Yes, he is bare footed.

For you readers, it was a flicker. Sometimes the path was blocked-hurricane damage

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Here's a list of the birds seen on the walk:

Red-shouldered Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Hermit Thrush, Pine Warbler, Yellow-

rumped Warbler,

Northern Flicker, Downy Woodpecker, Red-headed Woodpecker, Red-bellied

Woodpecker,

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Hooded Merganser, Brown Thrasher, Tufted Titmouse,

Carolina Chickadee, Eastern Bluebird.

I saw an Eastern Towhee in the parking lot as I was leaving.

Closing note. You do not have to be an excellent birder to lead a walk. There are

always good birders on the walk and will speak up when it is necessary. The most

important job any birder, leader or participant, is to always be on the lookout and

listening.

From Gretchen

“Please note I still need volunteers to lead walks in August and November.

Burnt Mill Creek was wonderful birding this year if someone would like to take that

on; any date not filled is good. Also would like a Holly Shelter event and, again, any

date not already filled is good.

Thank you for your participation.” G

Please consider leading a walk. Contact Gretchen at gretchenschramm7@gmail.com

She might even bring goodies to your walk. CAPE FEAR AUDUBON SOCIETY

2019 BIRD WALKS

JANUARY 26 LAKE MATTTAMUSKEET DAVE WEESNER

FEBRUARY 9 WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH SAM COOPER

MARCH 23 BACKYARD BIRD TOUR C. WINTERBAUER

APRIL 6 MAPLE HILL JANINE DUNN

APRIL 20 CASTLE HAYNE BURRESS SMITH

MAY 11 HUNTINGTON BEACH SP JOHN SUTTON

MAY 18 MOORE’S CREEK BOB ROUSH

JUNE 2 SHELTON HERB FARM MARGARET SHELTON

JUNE 17 WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH KATHY HANNAH

JULY 6 PELICAN ISLANDS LINDSAY ADDISON

JULY 12 CAPE FEAR RAPTOR CENTER FAYE RUSSELL

JULY 19 CAPE FEAR RAPTOR CENTER FAYE RUSSELL

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER 14 SUNSET BEACH/TWIN LAKES BRUCE SMITHSON &

GEORGE HARRINGTON

OCTOBER 5 FORT FISHER/BATTERY BUCHANAN JILL PELEUSES

OCTOBER 12 GREENFIELD LAKE JIM HOLCOMB

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER CBC BIRD COUNT

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DTWOB update Discover The Wonders Of Birds (DTWOB) is beginning its 4th year. Here are some of the students

that just finished DTWOB on 16 November. They are holding their Jr. Ornithologist certificate.

If you wish to help out with this great program, contact Krys Ochota: krystyna00@hotmail.com.

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Parting Shot (Literally) This will be my last issue as editor of the Skimmer and as President of Cape Fear Audubon. It has been a wonderful

ride. Thanks to all who supported us.

Charley Winterbauer

The outfit worn at DTWOB when talking to students about plastic.