Say what? Mermaids cry plastic.

It's summer weather, which means it is beach weather.

At least it is in down under the down under. 

If you happen to be enjoying the beautiful weather on a beach, I'd like you to keep an eye out for mermaid's tears. 

That may sound like a cryptic ingredient out of some sort of fantasy movie,

But mermaids tears, AKA Nurdles (hahahaha, nurdles) are real round balls of plastic that are about 1/4 of the size of your pinky nail.
And are no laughing matter. 

(http://www.aphotomarine.com/images/strandline/plastic_nurdles_mermaids_tears_06-08-13_2.jpg)

Mermaid's tears can be found on practically every beach in the world. They are shipped across the world so that they can be melted down to form bigger pieces of plastic, as well as being used for packaging other items, in the way that polystyrene balls do. 

So, no big deal right? They're only small beads... 

That look really similar to fish eggs. 

 https://img1.etsystatic.com/000/0/5448784/il_570xN.320595577.jpg

Fish eggs are consumed by numerous species of marine animals, as they are rich in nutrients.

Mermaid's tears do not biodegrade, or break down, because it is made of plastic*. In this way, the mermaid's tears can accumulate within the digestive system of marine animals, eventually poisoning them.

So, keep an eye out for these tears, pick them up if you can, and tell other people about them.
Disclaimer: Mermaid's Tears are not made by mermaids, but by the human race. It is unfair that we blame the pollution of the ocean on mermaids.

Thanks for reading,
Grace

*This is because of the type of bonding that occurs between the monomers of polypropene or polyethene, The monomers are made up of carbon and hydrogen atoms. Due to the long carbon chain length of polymers (which are comprised of many monomers joined together in a large chain), a lot of energy is required to break the bonds, as the long carbon chain length means that the forces of attraction between the monomers is very strong. Thus, plastic does not biodegrade easily as the sun's energy is not enough to separate the monomers.
If you wish to know more about the subject, I suggest Google, or taking chemistry.

Palm Oil

Unless you've been living under a rock (at least in NZ) you've probably heard about Palm oil.

Maybe you've even seen it on the back of household products, but dismissed it as just another
random thing with an obscure name you have no idea about.

Let me shed some light:

Here are some basic facts about Palm oil.

What is it? Where does it come from? 

Palm oil is literally what it sounds like; oil from the fruit of an African Oil Palm.

(above photo: https://imarcgroup.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/palm-oil.jpg)

It's grown in most tropical climates, from the Amazon to Borneo.

And it is used in a variety of household products.
Your shampoo, your icecream, cosmetic products, soaps, cookies, crackers, practically everything.

Yes, the versatile, cheap Palm oil is everywhere. And it's pretty useful.
It also provides a source of income for local villages who may, without the work producing palm oil, have slipped below the poverty line.

Okay, so what's the issue? 
Think of it this way.

We know there are more people, who are eating more, consuming more (see where I'm going with this?), so naturally, the consumption, and the demand for Palm oil is increasing.
With the increase of the demand of Palm oil, comes the increase of Palm oil plantations.

As Palm oil is being grown largely in the tropics,
the increase of Palm oil plantations means the deforestation of rain forests.
Rain forests are a humdrum of different species, and are some of the most bio-diverse places on
earth.

So diverse, we haven't even discovered all of the species in them. Yet.

In some areas of the Amazon, deforestation is occurring at the rate of one football field per minute,
The plantations can also cause the indigenous people strife as well, as often the companies
running the plantations bulldoze straight through villages, destroying crops and livelihoods with the
rain forest. In this way, they are forced to work in the plantations, or go hungry.

In turn producing more Palm oil, feeding and increasing the demand, whilst more and more
species go extinct and what happens to the locals continues to happen.

It's a vicious cycle.

Imagine, species that we haven't even encountered yet going extinct before we even have a
chance to observe their beauty and brilliance. It's happening right now.

What can we do?

Stop consuming Palm oil produced in unsustainable ways.
I don't mean flat out just using shampoo and soap. That would be gross.
But filter out the items that do contain Palm oil, and stop buying them. Just check the list of
ingredients of said products.
However, because of palm oil's popularity, or rather lack of it, there are many different names for it, which makes the whole not using it thing a lot harder.
Names of Palm oil

(Due to the growing awareness around palm oil, some products have sustainable palm oil labels, or palm oil free labels.)

As always, talking about issues raises the awareness around them and makes them more visible.

A good example of people boycotting palm oil making a difference, is when Cadbury removed Palm oil from its chocolate exported to NZ. There was a wave of public outcry when it was
revealed their chocolate contained the oil.
So, keep this in mind next time you go grocery shopping.

Thanks for reading,
Grace

The plight of the albatross and (ironically), an island of trash.

Albatrosses are my favorite birds, hands down.

They are, huge, staunch, graceful, and beautiful creatures.

These birds are incredible, they spend at least 85% of their time at sea, flying and fishing.

Whilst these birds are at sea, doing their thing, they have a diet of mainly schooling fish and squid, but they have been documented deviating greatly from their usual diet.

  

Let me explain. 

This picture was taken at Midway Atoll, a small Hawaiian island in the pacific ocean, very near the great pacific garbage patch. 

The "Great" Pacific garbage patch is a floating, dense island of trash, plastic, and the result of multitudes of waste being carried into the ocean, and collected together by ocean gyres, which are vast ocean currents that cause the garbage to collect in this way. 

Plastic, due to it's numerous properties which make it buoyant and colorful, resembles the fish and squid that the albatrosses used to eat, which also stayed close to the surface. 

But wait, there's more. 

According to Greenpeace, 65% of the world's entire fish population has been over fished.

This means that a lot of the albatross's main food supply has been severely reduced. 

Meaning that the likely-hood of albatross snacking on the readily available trash increases hugely. 

Thus, photos like the one above become more and more common. 

What we can do. 

Reduce, reuse, recycle plastics! Stop them at the source, before they get to the great pacific garbage patch, or the albatrosses. 

Beach cleanups! If you live by the coast, like me, beach cleanups are awesome. All you need is a plastic bag, and some gloves, which are optional, and people. Friends, family, workmates, anyone. 

Spread the word! Tell your family and friends about what's happening. It's such a small action that makes a huge difference. 

Check out: 

Sustainable coastlines 

The Issue with Marine Litter

Photos credit:
1) https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/90/Thalassarche_bulleri_in_flight_1_-_SE_Tasmania.jpg
2) https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/Thalassarche_cauta_-_SE_Tasmania.jpg
3)http://ocean.si.edu/sites/default/files/styles/663x/public/photos/chrisjordan1.jpg?itok=5PqxOTht

Thanks for reading, 

Grace. 

Food.

I have recently read the amazing book, The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver.
The novel is about an American evangelical baptist and his family, who move to the Belgian Congo in 1959.

It has got me thinking about a few things, as good books often do. 

Food, most especially. 

I find it incredible, that in the same planet, so many people are simultaneously dying of obesity, and of starvation. And of starvation disguised as obesity. 

The disease Kwashiorkor is caused by the lack of protein in a diet and the over abundant amount of carbohydrates in a diet. It causes a protruding belly, which is the result of stomach muscles not being strong enough to hold in the persons intestines. 

"Hereabouts, where we sit among such piles of leftover protein we press it into cakes for the pets, who usefully guard our empty chairs; here where we pay soothsayers and acrobats to help lose our weight, then yes, for a child to die from hunger is immoral. But this is just one place. I’m afraid I have seen a world." - The Poisonwood Bible. 

Sitting in my room reading, it was easy to feel overwhelmed by all of this information and the injustice of the situation. 

However, my overwhelmed self was put in perspective by visiting my local community garden with my little brother. 

They are doing an excellent job at being role models of a sustainable garden, and taking young kids through and educating them about gardening and food. 

I don't think that anyone who has toiled over soil, can take it for granted how much food we have access to in wealthy countries, isles of it, all waiting for consumption. 

So that's what I'm going to do: 

Garden more, compost, and enjoy my breakfast. 

Here's the point where I provide some ideas.
Composting is a good way to recycle the nutrients gone into vegies and fruit, and put them back into your garden. If you are lacking room to have a large compost, there are a range of systems, such as Bokashi, which are self contained and odor free.
Or if you completely lack a backyard, like I almost do, there are bound to be some community gardens that you can join near you.

If you want some more food for thought, (only a small amount of pun intended) check out some of National Geographic's 2014 issues ( September, August, and December definitely) for their global food articles.

Thanks for reading.
Grace.

Note: There was a large gap between my first post and this one here, because of my exams. Luckily, my last one is on Tuesday. I hope to establish a regular posting schedule in the near future.

                                                                           

No man is an island.

No man is an island,
Entire of itself
Every man is a piece of a continent
A part of the main,
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less,
As well as a promontory were,
As well as a manor of thy friends.
Or of thine own were:
Any man's death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.
                              - John Donne.

In the age of humans, the Anthropocene, we are facing some serious problems.
Climate change, decreasing biodiversity, pollution, to name a few.

Every day, we are bombarded with statistics and facts; 159 million tonnes of ice lost from the Antarctic, according to The Listener, and an estimated three football fields a minute of rain forest lost to palm oil plantations.

However, what the papers and the news don't tell you is that it's not all doom and gloom, that there is a global movement. World leader conferences on climate change in Paris, the USA pledging to cut carbon emissions by 40% compared to 1990 levels by 2030. My own NZ moving towards producing even more renewable energy.

As wonderful as all this action from world leaders is, it is only one part of the of the solution. What makes me even more excited, and what I believe is even more wonderful is the changes that I hear about in my own community, as more people are buying electric cars, or open a new community garden, or running a beach clean up, who choose to use paper rather than plastic, upon many other things. Who change the world through their simple everyday acts of thoughtfulness.

Because of these people in my community, my friends who are as like-minded as I am,

I never need to ask for whom the bells toll,
I know they toll for you and me.