Get out there, go volunteering.

There is a rather vicious rumour going around that volunteers receive nothing for giving up their time.

This is most certainly untrue.

This was me, yesterday, volunteering at Sustainable Coastlines' building: The Flagship, in Wynyard Quarter, The Viaduct.

The sign is made completely out of rubbish collected from Ponui island in the Hauraki gulf. 30 people collected a whopping 6 bags full rubbish bags of trash along the beach, in less than four hours. It reads; Pirates of Ponui

The sign, along with a timelapse of it being created, will be used in a new Sustainable Coastlines promo video.

I was there for eight hours, and man, did I get a lot back from that day.

I mean, how flipping cool is that sign? And I got to help make it! In fact, everyone who walked through got to. And I even got to teach some people about marine conservation and marine trash, two things I am very passionate about.

I am also a regular volunteer at Motutapu island. Myself and some friends head there once a fortnight, spend most of the time working, some of the time bickering, and the remainder eating free sausages and relaxing on a beautiful island knowing we've done our bit for today.

That's a pretty good deal, in my eyes.

Whatever your cause is, whether it is marine litter and conservation (like myself), or scientific research like a few of my friends, or human rights, there is always something out there to do, someone to help, somewhere to volunteer.

Now that I think about it, that sign is a good metaphor for volunteer work:
Every little bottle cap glued to that piece of ply helps makes the message more impactful.

In the same way, every person, no matter who they are, when they go volunteering, has the ability to make an impact; every action makes a difference.

Get out there.

Thanks for reading, 
Grace 
Directions:

Google is your friend when it comes to volunteering.

Check Department of Conservation and Council sites for volunteer opportunities.

You can volunteer at some of the islands in the hauraki gulf, such as Tiri Tiri Matangi, Motuihe and of course Motutapu.

Check out: http://www.enviroyouth.com/volunteer.html

And finally, Sustainable Coastlines runs events all year round, or you can make your own.

Waste minimisation and alliteration.

Over the last four days I have been attending a leadership programme called MAD marine.

It was truly inspiring, educating and empowering. 

I learnt a few more interesting things about waste, water, and people. 

The most intriguing thing I learnt was about recycling, and how not all plastics are recycled, some, instead are burnt as fuel. 

Okay, so everyone knows about the three R's. 

Reduce, reuse, recycle. The alliteration sensation for waste minimisation. 

Jack Johnson even wrote a song about them (video directly below)

However, recycling is  NOT the answer for protecting our oceans from marine litter, it is more the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff, the sticking plaster on the amputated leg, so on and so forth. 

Glass, aluminium and some metals are all great to be recycled, and most plastics too. 

Plastics however, become of a lesser and lesser quality the more they are recycled. In some cases, the plastics are sold overseas to other countries where they are burned as fuel. 

Below is an amazing video called the story of stuff. 

It is an excellent video to watch, as it explains where our trash comes from, where it goes, as well as the concept of materialism. 

On a final note, there is a new addition to the waste minimisation alliteration sensation called refuse. 

It is the best way to decrease the amount of rubbish you put to landfill. 

Simply say no. No to plastic bags and single use items like straws, lollipop sticks, polystyrene cups, coffee cup lids, rappers, cling film, the list goes on and on and on. 

So, when you're out there shopping at a supermarket, to bring your reusable bags and minimise the use of the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff. 

Thanks for reading, 

Grace 

Shout out to any MAD participants reading this. 

You guys rock. 

Bats!

Bats are seriously misunderstood creatures. 

When I say bat, you say: Vampires! Blood! Scary! 

When I say bat, I think: 

Awwwwwww!
Cuteness. 

Long tailed bats and short tailed bats are the only land mammals native to New Zealand.
They roost in small crevices and holes, in trees and some urban structures. When the bats go to sleep, they will not wake up until nightfall, as the bats descend into a type of trance. Even if they are shaken out of their roosts, they will simply fall to the ground, where they can be trodden on, or eaten by stoats and other introduced pests.
Due to a number of threats such as habitat loss and predation from pests, these particularly vulnerable fuzzballs are classed as critically endangered.

Bats are far more interesting than they appear to be; underneath their stereotype of being vicious, scary blood thirsty creatures (which is ridiculous when you consider there are perhaps as many as 1,200 species of bat, and only 3 have blood as a part of their diet) they are actually very fascinating, spunky creatures.

So, just because animals may look one way, or have a bad rap, like bats, doesn't mean that we shouldn't protect them, or spend time and money researching them.














In fact, National Geographic's latest issue (January 2016) has a section on the importance of vultures for the wellbeing of the Saharan ecological system! I don't know any animal with a more repulsive reputation than that, yet this article explains how important they are in stopping infection that could be otherwise passed on by rotten carcasses.

It is my opinion that every animal has a key role in the ecosystem, if it is not blaring the apparent in the present, we can be sure it will be some time in the future.
Aesthetics or reputation do not negate the importance of an individual, or their interestingness.
The same can be said for humans!

With this idea in mind, always keep an eye out for some unusual and unique species. You never know what you might find.

Thanks for reading,
Grace

Photo of bat from NZ DoC website

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.