Education

Santa Barbara Channelkeeper’s Plastic Film Festival

May 20, 2021 by Santa Barbara Channelkeeper Leave a Comment

Watch, Learn & Take Action

Plastic pollution is a mounting global concern, and it has significant impacts locally, which is why reducing single-use plastic continues to be a major focus of Channelkeeper’s work. In an effort to help educate and inspire our community, we’ve compiled a list of seven informative films about plastic that are available to stream online. It’s the perfect opportunity to host a documentary film festival in the comfort of your home.

People often think of plastic pollution as litter. However, plastic pollution is more than the clutter of single-use items that wash down storm drains and collect on our beaches. Plastic has severe consequences throughout its lifecycle. From oil drilling and refining to plastic production and waste, every stage is detrimental to human health, and these harmful processes have created a social justice crisis, since the most vulnerable communities are often disproportionately affected.

Plastics are poisoning our bodies through the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat. Recent studies show that on average, each of us consumes a credit-card-sized amount of microplastics every week, which can carry toxic chemicals such as carcinogens and endocrine disrupters.

Plastic is also a contributor to climate change. More than 99% of plastic is made from fossil fuels. Today, about 4-8% of annual global oil consumption is associated with plastics, according to the World Economic Forum. Plastic production is expected to more than double over the next three decades. If this reliance on plastics persists, plastics will account for 20% of oil consumption by 2050.

Channelkeeper continues to work locally to educate the community about the impacts of single-use plastic and ways to reduce its use, while also continuing to advocate for local policies to reduce single-use plastic and helping to set an example for the state. With studies predicting that plastic pollution in the ocean will likely triple over the next decade, we recognize the urgency of taking immediate action to address this crisis.

We invite you to watch these films, discuss them–and then join us in taking action.

A Plastic Ocean (1hr 42m)
Available on: Netflix or Amazon
This 2016 documentary follows a team of scientists and researchers as well as record-breaking freediver and activist Tanya Streeter, as they travel to 20 different locations across the globe. Directed by journalist Craig Leeson, the film juxtaposes beautiful shots of the ocean with contrasting views of polluted cities and landfills teeming with rubbish. The film reveals how plastic in the ocean gets mistaken for food by marine animals, and goes on to harm organisms all the way up the food chain, including humans.

Frontline’s Plastic Wars (54m)
Stream on PBS
FRONTLINE and NPR team up to investigate the surge of plastic waste in the environment. Plastic Wars reveals how plastic makers have publicly promoted recycling for decades, despite privately expressing doubts that widespread plastic recycling would ever be economically viable.

Inside the Garbage of the World (54m)
Available on: Amazon Prime
This film explores the plastic island in the Pacific and reveals that the situation is actually more dire than anyone anticipated. Directors Philippe and Maxine Carillo evoke a sense of urgency in changing our behavior in order to preserve our planet and our way of life.

Microplastic Madness (1hr 16m)
Vimeo Trailer / Available on YouTube
Told from a child’s perspective, this film follows 56 fifth graders from Brooklyn as they investigate plastic pollution in their community. They collect data which they use to inform policy and set out to rid their cafeteria of all plastic.

Plastic China (1 hr, 22 m)
Available on: Amazon Prime
This film relates the story of people in China who live surrounded by plastic. Tons and tons of plastic are exported to China to be recycled and manufactured into something new. Yi-Jie is an 11-year-old girl whose family lives in one of these waste workshops. Plastic China shows the price that living and working under these circumstances has on their health and way of life.

Plastic Paradise (57m)
Available for rent on Amazon
This film takes us to Midway Atoll, an unincorporated territory of the US off Hawaii, and the site of the Battle of Midway during WWII. In the middle of the Pacific Ocean with no civilization nearby, the atoll has become a collection site for the waste of the world. Brought in by the currents and tides, the atoll is littered with a massive amount of plastic and garbage that is degrading the paradise which surrounds it, which has become the case all over the Pacific, leading it to be dubbed the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Journalist Angela Sun narrates, writes, and directs the film, interviewing a variety of ocean experts, scientists, and advocates.

The Story of Plastic (1hr 35m)
Available on: DiscoveryGo or for rent on Amazon
With powerful insight, this eye-opening film provides a comprehensive look at the global plastic pollution crisis and the ways in which the oil and gas industry has manipulated the narrative around it. The film highlights the fact that, as consumers, our everyday choices add up.

Tracing the Path of Trash

March 11, 2021 by Santa Barbara Channelkeeper Leave a Comment

Text by Arianna McDonald

On a morning walk last week, I picked up a half-buried candy wrapper on the beach. The plastic film and blue lettering seemed so out of place against the sand. I wondered: how had it ended up here?

I imagined that someone was hungry and bought a convenience store snack. They may have put the wrapper in their pocket, intending to throw it away later. Perhaps it fell out before they could. Blown by the wind, it found its way into a gutter or storm drain, and rainwater carried it through the network of storm pipes into streams. Eventually, the wrapper ended up in the ocean.

Santa Barbara has an elaborate network of storm drains that carries water away from urban areas (page 8), but the stormwater it conveys is not filtered for debris or treated before it enters the ocean. Runoff from irrigation, residential car washing, and sidewalk and parking lot washing can pick up pollutants and carry them through storm drains and waterways to the ocean.

In 2011 the City of Santa Barbara installed screens in front of storm drains in order to catch trash and other debris from finding their way into the water system. However, these screens retract during times of rainfall to prevent flooding, allowing debris that has collected to enter the drains.

Each year, 5 to 14 million tons of debris flows into the ocean from coastal areas. Not only can it be toxic to aquatic wildlife and humans, this pollution degrades the water quality and also destroys the beauty of our oceans and beaches that we swim and play in.

Plastic doesn’t biodegrade in the ocean like natural materials do. Once in the ocean, UV exposure, weather, and heat cause the plastic debris to break down into smaller and smaller pieces, known as microplastics. These microplastics cannot be easily removed because they become so small. Fish and other marine life may ingest the plastic pieces, blocking their digestive tracts and changing their eating habits, which can influence their growth and reproduction.

Toxins and pollutants can bind to the surfaces of microplastics. When these tiny pieces are ingested, they can spread toxic chemicals throughout the food chain. Researchers have also found that smaller particles, or nanoplastics, can permeate tissues and organs, and affect a variety of species when small creatures are consumed by bigger fish and mammals, including people.

A recent study revealed that the rate of plastic consumed by fish has doubled within the last decade and is increasing by more than 2% each year. Two-thirds of the species that had ingested plastic were species that are commercially fished, indicating that human consumption will likely increase in parallel.

These microplastics can be found all over the ocean, including in the deep sea, and frozen in Arctic sea ice. It’s estimated that 269 thousand tons of plastic are floating in the ocean, with more being added every day.

Statistics such as these underscore the importance of responsible litter disposal. They serve as a reminder that each of us can take steps to help keep plastic waste out of storm drains and prevent it from entering our oceans. We can choose to be part of the solution–one candy wrapper at a time.

How you can help:

Refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle. Choose reusable items and use fewer disposable ones (e.g., bring your own reusable bags).
Make sure any waste you produce (plastics, technology, etc) is disposed of properly, whether that be sending them to landfill, recycling, or e-waste drop-off sites. Being diligent about discarding your garbage properly is key to keeping it out of our oceans.
Stop the flow of trash to the sea by helping keep streets, sidewalks, parking lots, and storm drains free of garbage. Learn more about how the path trash takes to the ocean and download our Watershed Wise poster here.
Get involved! Join Channelkeeper’s Watershed Brigade! Conduct clean-ups in your neighborhood, at a creek, beach, or anywhere and invite others to help keep the beaches and oceans clean.

Watershed Hero: Joy Downing Riley

February 1, 2021 by Santa Barbara Channelkeeper 1 Comment

Some people see a problem and wonder how others will solve it—but not Joy Downing Riley. When she noticed that litter was impacting marine life along one of her favorite coastal areas—the Rincon Parkway—she leaped into action, not only by picking up trash herself but by addressing the issue at its upstream source.

Joy believes in the power of individual action to create positive change and over the years she’s served the community in a variety of volunteer roles. Until last spring, she volunteered as a literacy coach. But when the pandemic made it too risky to meet in person, she looked for other ways to give back and joined Santa Barbara Channelkeeper’s Watershed Brigade to help remove trash from public places. In the past nine months, she’s become a star volunteer—and a true Watershed Hero.

The Rincon Parkway, the stretch of beach along the Pacific Coast Highway between Emma Wood State Beach and Mussel Shoals, is a special place to Joy. It’s a vantage point from which she enjoys watching wildlife while taking in the island views and the ever-changing light. She appreciates that the Parkway is accessible to all and loves seeing the happiness on people’s faces–from fishermen and surfers to families.

When stay-at-home orders went in to place in March of 2020 and people looked to outdoor areas for recreation, Joy noticed an increase in the use of this area and observed more trash along the road making its way to the beach. She felt it was important to be out there cleaning the area, educating the community, and doing something positive.

Her experience locating and assessing stranded California sea lions and seals as a volunteer for Channel Island Marine and Wildlife Institute has provided her with firsthand insight into the trash eco-system while also fostering a sense of personal responsibility for the marine life. She has observed the impact that our trash and human street waste have on sensitive areas along the coast as the flow of stormwater runoff carries litter to the ocean and notes the direct connection between the health of wildlife and humans.

“Sea lions are important to study. They are sentinel mammals, and their health can be indicative of a number of environmental concerns,” she explains. “The trash we tend drop on the ground or let blow from trash cans, ends up in our roadsides, culverts, barrancas, and eventually in the ocean. Our degrading debris is toxic to wildlife.”

During her time clearing trash and debris from the Parkway, she’s seen beer bottles strewn by visitors, she’s watched dump trucks unload heaps of dirt, people change their oil, discard Styrofoam to-go food containers, diapers, dog waste, tangled fishing line, and cigarette butts (she once collected 150 in a ¼ mile radius), but she believes that when people know better, they do better.

Beyond cleaning litter from the coastal roadway and beach areas, Joy has taken measures to address litter at the source by educating the public and connecting with companies and public agencies to ask for their help. She talks with people and shares her passion for keeping trash out of waterways and habitats clean.

“My sense is that if people had a better understanding of ecosystems—and the flow of trash to the sea—that they would be more cautious about litter.”

While doing clean-ups in the neighborhood near Telegraph Road and Ventura College, she regularly noticed 10-12 Starbucks cups in the storm drains on her mile and a half route. In Ventura and Santa Barbara open storm drains flow straight to the ocean. So, she made an appointment to talk with the Starbucks manager and together they outlined a strategy to keep cups out of the stormwater system. Their initiatives included new signs reminding customers to dispose of their trash responsibly. She was also able to voice her concerns to the regional Starbucks manager and open a dialogue with local city officials about more expansive litter-prevention actions they could take.

Joy’s enthusiasm is infectious and her presence along this special stretch of roadway has not only shown people that she cares deeply about the Rincon Parkway, it has inspired others to join in.

“It’s as if my presence there—seeing me in my gloves and mask picking up trash has given people permission to go out there and do something positive too. That feels good.”

Joy is living proof of the power of citizen action. By doing regular clean-ups, meeting with store managers and City agencies, and launching an educational campaign to increase public awareness of the path trash takes through storm drains and creeks to the ocean, she has contributed to a community-wide movement and has empowered others to take steps toward creating change.

We are profoundly grateful.

Plastic in the Time of Pandemic

June 15, 2020 by Santa Barbara Channelkeeper

It’s ubiquitous—found in the deepest recesses of the Mariana Trench, the bellies of fish, the air we breathe, and our blood. Plastic pollution in all its forms is a mounting global concern, but it appears to have taken a backseat during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Plastic production worldwide has quadrupled in the past four decades, according to a 2019 study. Adding to this somber statistic, the COVID-19 crisis has prompted an increase in the production of plastic products like surgical masks and gloves, face shields, and protective equipment. While this heightened production is, of course, important for protecting human health, the additional plastic will eventually end up somewhere – in a landfill, incinerated, or in oceans around the world.

Concerns about plastic have been seemingly pushed aside during the crisis. From the careless disposal of plastic gloves and masks in cities around the world to aggressive plastic and petroleum industry lobbying, and the rollback or cancellation of regulations on the use of single-use plastic, the COVID-19 health crisis has posed a series of challenges for reducing plastic pollution worldwide.

Increasing Ocean Pollution
Every year, 8 million metric tons of plastics enter our oceans on top of the estimated 150 million metric tons that currently circulate in our marine environments. Scientists predict that there will be one pound of plastic in the ocean for every three pounds of fish by 2025 and more plastic trash in the ocean than fish by 2050. And according to several studies, discarded personal protective equipment (PPE) is particularly hazardous for marine life since gloves and plastic bags can be mistaken for jellyfish or other food sources, while the straps on masks can present entangling hazards.

Furthermore, due to concerns over viral spread, recycling and municipal waste services in the US and worldwide have been significantly limited during the pandemic, making it highly unlikely that the extra plastic we’re using to protect ourselves today will be recycled.

Pre-Pandemic Progress

In March, the European Union voted to ban single-use plastics by 2021. In June, Canada followed suit, promising to also hold plastics manufacturers responsible for their waste. One hundred and forty-one countries, including China, Bangladesh, India, and 34 African countries, have implemented taxes or partial bans on plastics.

Meanwhile, in the US the Trump administration has worked against many of these efforts to reduce plastic waste, so cities and towns have led the charge independently. As of today eight states have enacted plastic restrictions and municipal governments have passed more than 330 local plastic bag ordinances in 24 states.

Fears Feed Rollbacks

On April 22nd, amid concerns about spreading the Coronavirus, California Governor Newsom signed an executive order that suspends the state’s voter-approved single-use plastic bag ban for 60 days. Many California grocery stores have discouraged people from bringing reusable bags due to concerns about contamination. However, at this time there’s no scientific evidence that a reusable item is more likely to spread COVID-19 than a single-use plastic item. Unfortunately, the plastic industry is exploiting fears and spreading misinformation while pushing for rollbacks of plastic bag bans across the country.

As restaurants begin to re-open throughout California for dine-in service, the plastics industry continues to exploit fear and misinformation by encouraging consumers to utilize single-use, disposable plastic cutlery as opposed to reusable silverware. From production to packaging and shipping, disposable items pass through a countless number of hands by the time they reach a restaurant. According to the experts, the most hygienic food-ware for your meals is the kind that can go through a dishwasher.

What You Can Do

Reuse Your Bags – Channelkeeper encourages people to continue using their reusable bags safely and to follow individual store policies. While some local grocers have asked customers not to use reusable shopping bags for the time being, many are still allowing their use provided that customers bag their own groceries and do not place reusable bags on the counter. Another alternative is to load groceries back into the cart, take the cart out to your car, and place your groceries into your reusable bags at the car. If you choose to use reusable bags when going shopping for food and essential goods, it’s wise to wash them by hand or launder in hot water and soap.

Conduct a Beach Clean-up – Get fresh air while making a difference in your community. Check out our Beach Clean-up Guide for tips on how to conduct a clean-up and contribute to Channelkeeper’s database of trash collected from local beaches.

Bring Your Own Reusable Cutlery – In an effort to keep yourself and restaurant employees safe while reducing your plastic footprint, consider bringing your own your own reusable cutlery to use when dining in. Just be sure to let restaurant employees know that you will not need disposable plastic cutlery with your order. You can even make your own utensil carrying case to keep your silverware clean and secure in your bag so you always have them handy.

The Deflating Reality of Balloons

May 15, 2020 by Katya Baty

Balloons are a festive decoration for celebrations, but after the party is over where do they go? Used balloons end up in one of two places: nature or a landfill. When released, balloons can travel many miles before they deflate and fall to Earth, often entering the marine environment. Balloons act similarly to other plastics, taking years to break down, and can have a number of harmful impacts on the environment and marine wildlife.

Balloons sold in stores are made of either Mylar or latex. Mylar is an extremely strong plastic polyester film that can be inflated for long periods of time, whereas latex balloons are less durable yet still pose a similar threat in the marine environment. Latex balloons are commonly labeled as biodegradable, however, oftentimes added chemicals, plasticizers, and artificial dyes prevent their bacterial decomposition. A 2005 study by researcher Anthony Andrady of the Research Triangle Institute found that balloons exposed to sunlight in seawater decomposed slower than when they were exposed to sunlight in the air and after a full year still retained their flexibility. Mylar balloons are nearly impossible to recycle and do not biodegrade.

Both types of balloons pose a risk to marine life when they enter the ocean and the local watershed. Many marine wildlife mistake balloons as a source of food because the attractive bright colors or fragments resemble the look of a jellyfish or squid. The ingestion of balloons can block an animal’s digestive tract which can lead to starvation. Researchers have found pieces of balloons in the digestive tracts of dolphins, whales, birds, and sea turtles as well as terrestrial animals. Balloon strings can also cause marine life entanglement.

Balloons are one of the top three types of waste found in the Santa Barbara Channel. Channelkeeper frequently discovers balloons in our local creeks, beaches, and in the Santa Barbara Channel while out on our boat. During a three-hour statewide coastal cleanup event hosted by the California Coastal Commission in 2017, a total of 5,508 Mylar and latex balloons were collected along the California coast.

Channelkeeper is deeply concerned with pollution in our waterways and works to curb it and raise awareness about the threat single-use plastics like balloons pose when they enter local waterways and the ocean. It is estimated that roughly eight million tons of plastic enter our world’s oceans each year, and balloons are a part of this statistic.

Mylar Mistake Project

Santa Barbara Channelkeeper is honored to support Dori Larbig, a junior at San Marcos High School, who recently launched a website called MylarMistake for her Girl Scout Gold Award Community Service Project. Dori was inspired to start an educational project after seeing Mylar balloons in the Santa Barbara Channel first-hand while on a kayaking trip at the Channel Islands with her Girl Scout Troop. Her website works to raise awareness about the damaging impacts of Mylar balloons on the marine environment and encourages the community to reduce the use of Mylar balloons by providing information about the problem and existing laws and offering tips and solutions.

What Solutions Exist? Ocean Friendly Alternatives for Your Events and Parties

Unfortunately, cleanups alone cannot solve this issue. Currently, California law prohibits the release of Mylar balloons because these balloons are a fire hazard if they get caught in electricity lines. However, there is no legislation that bans latex balloon releases.

So what can you do? Take the pledge to be Mylar Free and spread the word to friends and family about the unintended impacts of balloons. Reduce and reuse. On an individual level there are many creative ways to celebrate. Consider decoration ideas like paper lanterns, streamers, banners, and flower arrangements or planting a tree or garden as a festive, earth-friendly activity.

Image source: https://oceanconservancy.org/trash-free-seas/take-deep-dive/threat-rank-report/