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Item 4: Ordinance Encouraging Use of Reusable Bags
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Item 4: Ordinance Encouraging Use of Reusable Bags
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Bag Ban Public Testimony 7/24/2012 – 9/17/2012 <br />“Most plastics either sink or float,” White pointed out. “Plastic isn’t likely to be evenly distributed <br />through the top 100 feet of the water column.” <br /> <br />White says there is growing interest in removing plastic from the ocean, but such efforts will be costly, <br />inefficient, and may have unforeseen consequences. It would be difficult, for example, to “corral” and <br />remove plastic particles from ocean waters without inadvertently removing phytoplankton, <br />zooplankton, and small surface-dwelling aquatic creatures. <br /> <br />“These small organisms are the heartbeat of the ocean,” she said. “They are the foundation of healthy <br />ocean food chains and immensely more abundant than plastic debris.” <br /> <br />The relationship between microbes and plastic is what drew White and her C-MORE colleagues to their <br />analysis in the first place. During a recent expedition, they discovered that photosynthetic microbes <br />were thriving on many plastic particles, in essence confirming that plastic is prime real estate for certain <br />microbes. <br /> <br />White also noted that while plastic may be beneficial to some organisms, it can also be toxic. <br />Specifically, it is well-known that plastic debris can adsorb toxins such as PCB. <br /> <br />“On one hand, these plastics may help remove toxins from the water,” she said. “On the other hand, <br />these same toxin-laden particles may be ingested by fish and seabirds. Plastic clearly does not belong in <br />the ocean.” <br /> <br />Among other findings, which White believes should be part of the public dialogue on ocean trash: <br /> <br />Calculations show that the amount of energy it would take to remove plastics from the ocean is roughly <br />250 times the mass of the plastic itself; <br /> <br />Plastic also covers the ocean floor, particularly offshore of large population centers. A recent survey <br />from the state of California found that 3 percent of the southern California Bight’s ocean floor was <br />covered with plastic – roughly half the amount of ocean floor covered by lost fishing gear in the same <br />location. But little, overall, is known about how much plastic has accumulated at the bottom of the <br />ocean, and how far offshore this debris field extends; <br /> <br />It is a common misperception that you can see or quantify plastic from space. There are no tropical <br />plastic islands out there and, in fact, most of the plastic isn’t even visible from the deck of a boat; <br /> <br />There are areas of the ocean largely unpolluted by plastic. A recent trawl White conducted in a remote <br />section of water between Easter Island and Chile pulled in no plastic at all. <br /> <br />There are other issues with plastic, White said, including the possibility that floating debris may act as a <br />vector for introducing invasive species into sensitive habitats. <br /> <br />“If there is a takeaway message, it’s that we should consider it good news that the ‘garbage patch’ <br />doesn’t seem to be as bad as advertised,” White said, “but since it would be prohibitively costly to <br />remove the plastic, we need to focus our efforts on preventing more trash from fouling our oceans in <br />the first place.” <br /> <br />
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