STRING BALL OF OCEAN RUBBISH

At the moment beaches near Brisbane are bringing up some very odd pieces of land-based refuse and plastic from the major flooding that has occurred in January.


If you are a teacher or concerned community member and are looking for a novel way to raise awareness of ocean debris in your school or community, this might be the right time to start an ocean rubbish string ball as suggested by SOAR here. A collection of string balls might make a terrific focal point for a conversation/communication piece on ocean pollution.


If you are suggesting this activity to students, in particular, safety is very important! Debris may have sharp bits on them or under them and hands must be washed after touching things from the beach. 


Teachers looking for a unit on Marine Pollution to bring the point home are welcome to use the free online materials provided by AUSMEPA here.

TED TALK: Dianna Cohen: Tough truths about plastic pollution | Video on TED.com

Dianna Cohen: Tough truths about plastic pollution | Video on TED.com

http://www.ted.com/talks/dianna_cohen_to...

TED Talks Artist Dianna Cohen shares some tough truths about plastic pollution in the ocean and in our lives -- and some thoughts on how to free ourselves from the plastic gyre.

This really is the bottom line regarding plastics. We must refuse them whenever and wherever possible.There will be some trade-offs. We need to take a step back in time in order to regain our footing. For me the bin liners are a killer. If you have ideas for dealing with kitchen needs send them to me or post a comment on this article. 

Some of the things we can do:

Purchase goods in glass jars and save them for food storage in the fridge.

Use a dish to cover over food in the fridge rather than plastic wrap

There are so many reasons not to use plastics in the freezer but alernatives are challenging -- use foil containers and then reuse them for as long as you can.

If your premises can't manage a compost bin then you might trial digging a small hole in the garden and bury the food waste progressively - it would keep the garden turned over too.


FOR TEACHERS:
AUSMEPA has a free online Marine Pollution unit of work for middle year students. Click here for more