Trash Tracker Recording and Analyzing What You Throw Away

What Did We Do Before Plastics? Plastics were not apart of everyday life until 1950s Limited to natural materials such as wood, glass, leather, clay, shell, bone, etc.

Plastics Timeline First synthetic plastic introduces Tupperware invented Plastic bags invented Plastics become world’s most used material

Today Modern day products such as Tupperware containers, toothbrushes, products used in the health field, auto safety, etc. have improved our way of life – but at what cost? Production costs for creating 1,000 or 10,000 units were nearly the same Industry promoted convenience of using things once - by 70s, disposability was a way of life By "resolving" these challenges, we've created our biggest challenge yet: waste and its effects on the environment Marine debris is just one of those effects

What is Marine Debris? Marine debris is ‘Any persistent solid material that is manufactured or processed and directly or indirectly, intentionally or unintentionally disposed of or abandoned into the marine environment or Great Lakes’ (NOAA, 2007)

Sources of Marine Debris Beachgoers Improper disposal of trash on land Stormwater sewers and combined sewer overflow Ships and other vessels Industrial facilities Waste disposal activities Offshore oil and gas platforms

Effects of Marine Debris Entanglement of wildlife Ingestion by wildlife Habitat Degradation Unsightliness Costly Cleanup Negative effects on tourism

Working Toward Solutions Governments, organizations, and research institutions are actively developing solutions Educational programs to prevent marine debris Beach cleanups, adopt-a-beach programs, and other initiatives. Local, state, federal, and international laws have been established to regulate commercial and recreational activities that frequently result in the generation of marine debris

Working Towards Solutions Continued Efforts are focused on: Changing the behaviors that lead to marine debris Increasing awareness and a better understanding of the problem Finding alternative materials Increasing recycling of waste items Conducting Cleanups

What Impact Do You Have? Using the Trash Tracker form, record the items you throw away for the next week, without changing your normal behavior The second week, you will record items you throw away, making an effort to reduce the amount of waste you produce At the end of the two weeks, we will see how your change in behavior affected the amount of waste you produce!