CAT

I'm volunteering at Cat Adoption Team. Two weekends ago, I had my volunteer orrientation. Next weekend I'm being trained to be a cat cuddler. As a cat cuddler, it's my responsiblity to interact with the cats and kittens to see what their personality is and what kind of home would be best for them. I'm soooooo excited!!!!!!! :D

Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch

Not everything that you throw away ends up in a landfill. Actually the biggest landfill on earth, isn't even on land. There is a huge garbage patch in the middle of the Pacific (and scientists now say there is one growing in the Atlantic). How did it get there? Us. We were careless, didn't think, or simply left garbage and debris there to be washed into rivers and eventually into the ocean.

This garbage won't break down. Ever. So what do we do? We need to work together and stop its growth until we figure out how to clean it up! It is killing innocent animals. In the pictures below, there's a few turtles that got caught in garbage. One grew up in garbage...scientists know this from the plastic ring that his shell has grown around. Sound like fun?

Now, in factories they melt down the old plastic into beads to be molded into new plastic things. Well, the beads are so tiny that some of the beads get lost along the way, and eventually get washed into the ocean.

That is very bad for many animals, such as the Albatross. The parents leave their chicks to go scan the ocean for protein-packed fish eggs for their babies. The beads look a lot like them so the well-meaning parents feed them to their chicks. These beads are indigestible so the birds either die of starvation or ruptured organs. People have actually seen decaying birds with cigarette lighters, plastic caps, and other junk inside their stomachs. Do these birds deserve this? Absolutely not. This is our fault, but we can do something about this.

Scientists are working on figuring out a way to clean up the garbage and we can support their efforts through government legislation and requiring companies to have better containment for their resources. Sadly, using nets to scoop up the garbage won't work because some of the trash is so small it would go right through it. And animals would get caught up in the nets anyway. But one thing that people like you and me can do is recycle. Did you know that you can recycle almost any plastic? That's right! Any grocery bags you get can be recycled along with any type of thin, flimsy plastic material (like string cheese wrappers, Ziploc bags, plastic cereal bags) plus plastic containers (like for salsa or yogurt), anything! Just keep a plastic grocery bag around your house and put anything plastic and recyclable into the bag. When the bag is full, just take it down to your local recycling center (you'd be surprised how many recycling sites are now available). We can fix what we have done! You can also reuse plastic flatware just by washing it--or just use metal, everyday dishes and utensils! Also remember to recycle ALL paper. That means cardboard boxes, notebooks, tags off clothes, even paper plates and bowls! Another thing you can do is to use a washable dishrag to clean up messes instead of a ton of paper towels.

My family has made the commitment to reduce, reuse, and recycle. We recycle anything and everything that we can and have nearly eliminated the use of plastic Ziploc bags in our house by using reusable cloth snack bags. Sound gross? Nope! They're coated in a food-safe, lead-free, BPA-free and phthalate-free nylon coating so they are water-proof. Go to this link to learn more about them: http://www.reuseit.com/ My family also uses reusable grocery bags that we bring with us to the store. They are lightweight, easy to use, and really help the environment. Most stores carry them for people to buy. A lot of turtles have died from choking on a plastic bag, thinking it was a jellyfish (their natural prey).

You can also use reusable water bottles instead of plastic ones. Every year the average American household use over 300 plastic bottles a year! That's crazy! You can prevent those bottles from ending up in the ocean and killing marine life. Come on guys! Do everything you can! You'll feel good about even doing a little bit, and every little bit counts. Every person that reduces, reuses, and recycles makes a HUGE difference. Talk to your family and friends and get others involved.

So, join the fight. I know I did.