Fake plastic fish... is that what wil be left?

Beth Terry, an anti-plastic activist guru from FakePlasticFish.com. Visit this site to find so many resources on how to avoid plastics in your life.

Here are some websites she recommended:
Green Sangha - an environmental spiritual community
Algalita Marine Research Foundation - to find out more on plastics in the ocean.
Take Back the Filter - a citizens action to get Clorox to recycle the Brita Filters.
Eco Dent - eco groovy dental floss.
Perserve Toothbrush - a recycled plastic toothbrush.
Burtz Bees shampoo and conditioner bars for no plastic container hair care.
To go Ware - helping us get away from disposable food service items. But I think we can just go to a yard sale and buy some dishware there.

The following table is only approximate as we can not verify plastic biodegrading in 800 years because it hasn't been around that long...please keep this in mind...

The biodegradable time table.
* Banana peel, 2 – 10 days
* Cotton rags, 1 – 5 months
* Biodegradable plastic bags, 75 days
* Sugarcane Pulp Products, 30 - 60 days
* Paper, 2 – 5 months
* Rope, 3 – 14 months
* Orange peels, 6 months
* Wool socks, 1 – 5 years
* Cigarette filters, 1 – 12 years
* Tetrapaks (plastic composite milk cartons), 5 years
* Plastic bags, 10 – 20 years
* Leather shoes, 25 – 40 years
* Nylon fabric, 30 – 40 years
* Plastic six-pack holder rings, 450 years
* Diapers and sanitary napkins 500 – 800 years
* Tin cans 50 - 100 years
* Aluminum cans 80 - 100 years
* Plastic Bottles non-biodegradeable
* Styrofoam cup, non-biodegradeable

Note... the following is a reprint from the US Department of Energy...talking about the biodegradability of plastic....
"This depends upon the plastic (polymer) and the environment to which it is
exposed. Polystyrene decomposes quickly when exposed to sun and weather, as
do polyvinyl acetates, other polyesters, and polyvinylchloride. On the other
hand, polyvinylfluoride (DuPont's Teflon (TM)) is virtually indestructable. Even the same polymer can differ quite widely in its decomposition depending upon how it
is formulated."

So, the list above that says a styrofoam cup is non-biodegradable may not be correct... but there's also the question of whether it actually goes "away" or simply gets very very small and the particles themselves are still present in nature... and toxic.

That's it for today!
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