California Currents|Online, Summer 2009

Clean Water Action is working to resolve the growing problem of marine debris by preventing litter at the source. Thanks to the plethora of waste from our "throw away" society, there is a garbage patch in the Northwest Gyre¹ of the Pacific Ocean estimated to be twice the size of Texas.

Marine debris is primarily comprised of convenience food packaging and single use disposable products - products the plastics and packaging industry believe we can't live without. Plastic makes up 60 to 80% of marine debris (in some places it is as high as 90-95%) and the ratio of plastic to plankton floating on the ocean surface in the Pacific Gyre is 64:1 (by weight).

Rainbow runner with plastic debris from stomach

In essence, the oceans are becoming a plastic soup in which many marine species are known to ingest floating plastics causing them to starve or suffocate. They can also become entangled in plastic debris and/or are poisoned by the toxins that are absorbed by plastics in the ocean. We know little about human impacts, but lately fish in the human food chain are being found with plastics in their bellies.

While recycling and composting rates have risen in the last 20 years, we continue to generate more and more waste. Despite California's efforts to enact a policy of the 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) and cut the amount of waste in our landfills by 50% , no attention has been paid to the first R- reducing the overall quantity of waste being generated. Consequently, the amount of waste needing to be managed is steadily increasing with no mandated limits, resulting in more litter in our environment.

The 3 Ps - Preventing Plastic Pollution

California is taking the lead on promoting solutions that will prevent marine debris by preventing plastic pollution. The Governor appointed Ocean Protection Council (OPC) adopted a resolution and a strategy that focuses on methods that prevent litter-prone waste from being generated in the first place. Their primary recommendations are:

1. Producer take-back of packaging - make producers of packaging and disposable goods responsible for managing products at the end of their useful life
2. Product Bans - prohibit single-use products that pose significant ocean litter impacts where a feasible, sustainable alternative is available 
3. Litter fees - assess fees on commonly littered items at point of purchase, including single-use grocery bags.

Clean Water Action is acting to make these recommendations a reality by supporting a suite of bills in the California legislature that focus on marine debris solutions. These include:

• AB 1358 (Hill and Nava) - a ban on polystyrene food take-out containers.
  Take action: Send your legislators a message urging them to support this bill.
• AB 68 (Brownley and Nava) - a 25 cent fee on grocery bags (paper and plastic) at the check-out counter.
• AB 283 (Chesbro and Nava) -requires the state to create a program requiring producers of designated products, including packaging, to take them back for which provides incentive for product manufacturers to reduce waste.
• SB 4 (Oropeza) - bans smoking on state beaches. Cigarette butts are a significant component of beach debris.
• AB 925 (Saldana) - like the pop-tops of aluminum cans of the ‘70's, this bill requires that plastic beverage bottle caps be integrated into the beverage container and thereby more likely to be recycled.

¹ A gyre is a concentric pattern of currents that circulates in a vortex pattern. Gyres tend to accumulate debris.

In this issue of California Currents|Online:

Chemical Policy Reform Moves Forward
The Department of Toxic Substance Control (DTSC) is fast tracking implementation of two bills passed by the state Legislature in 2008 -- AB 1879 (Feuer) and SB 509 (Simitian) -- with the goal of establishing related regulations this year. Clean Water Action is taking a lead role, along with our allies in the CHANGE (Californians for a Healthy and Green Economy) coalition, in DTSC's public stakeholder process. Our goal is to ensure that the regulations will be developed and enforced in a way that truly protects the environment and human health and drives the development of "green" chemicals.

Reuse A Key To Solving California's Water Shortage
A rainy February and March have slightly reduced the severity of this year's water shortage, but a third straight below normal water year has still sparked calls for water conservation around the state.

Is this yet another sign of climate change, or is it just one of the dry spells to which our state is prone? Whichever is the correct response, it makes sense for all of us to begin thinking differently about the ways in which we use and misuse water.

Support Ban On Foam Take-Out Containers
Polystrene is the second most common type of beach debris in California and it comprises 15% of street litter. Styrene, a chemical in PS, is a known animal carcinogen, and a human neurotoxin. It migrates easily into food and beverages when foam containers are heated or come into contact with acids (like lemon juice) and fats or oils. A study of human fat tissue by the US EPA in 1982 found that all Americans have Styrene in their bodies.

Stimulus Money Wisely
The Federal Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act was signed into law by President Obama on February 17 of this year, but Clean Water Action has been working with the Department of Public Health (DPH) and the State Water Board (Board) since last November to establish criteria under which more than $400 million of stimulus funding for water projects should be spent.

Want To Solve Marine Debris? Change the 3Rs to the 3Ps
Clean Water Action is working to resolve the growing problem of marine debris by preventing litter at the source. Thanks to the plethora of waste from our "throw away" society, there is a garbage patch in the Northwest Gyre of the Pacific Ocean estimated to be twice the size of Texas.

Getting the Lead Out
Clean Water Action is supporting an important bill to protect our waterways from lead contamination. SB 757 (Pavley) will ban the manufacture, use, and distribution of lead wheel weights in cars.

For California Woman, Protecting A River Can Cost You A Job
Heather Wylie traded her job for a river. And, given the choice, she'd do it again.

During the summer of 2008, Wylie joined a handful of protestors for a canoe and kayak trip down the LA River, earning the wrath of her employers and the attention of a nation. Why? At the time, Wylie was a biologist with the US Army Corps of Engineers. The agency had just declared the LA River as not navigable--a designation that put the watershed at risk and would have set a.dangerous precedent. Wylie and her compatriots were making their voyage to prove the Army Corps wrong. If their fleet could make the journey, they reasoned, then the LA River must be in-fact navigable, a critical first step in retaining Clean Water Act safeguards for the LA River system.

Restoring the Clean Water Act Must Top Congress' Agenda
Restoring the ability of the Clean Water Act to protect water resources must top Congress' water agenda. Supreme Court and agency decisions put at risk Clean Water Act protections for headwater, intermittent and ephemeral streams that supply drinking water systems that serve more than 110 million Americans. In total, 59 percent of the nation's waterways and millions of acres of wetlands are currently at risk.

What You Won't See In Those 'Clean Coal' Ads: Dirty Air, A Wall of Sludge, Poisoned Rivers
Surely you've seen the ads. They are scattered around the internet and splashed across our newspapers and magazines. Their commercials interrupt our favorite television shows and invade our local radio station's airspace. Yes, the ads are everywhere. But that doesn't make them true.

No PR campaign, no matter how well executed, can make coal clean. It's simply not possible.

Advocates for "clean" coal argue that technology exists-almost-that will allow coal-fired power plants to capture their carbon emissions and store the climate-changing gas deep under ground. Technically, this is true. Realistically, this would be extremely expensive, and wouldn't even begin to address most of the impacts felt by water. From mines to power plants, the process of wresting energy from coal is dirty and unhealthy for our waters, our communities and ourselves.

How Safe is Your Bath Tub?
Children's bubble baths should be clean, safe and fun. But No More Toxic Tub, a report published in March 2009 by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics in partnership with Clean Water Action and other organizations, found contaminants and other hazardous ingredients in numerous popular shampoos, soaps and body care products marketed to babies and children.

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