August 21, 2021
Galveston Bans Balloon Releases to Protect Wildlife
Galveston City Council unanimously passed an ordinance that will ban the open release of latex and mylar balloons. When balloons are released they fall back to the environment and litter beaches and ocean habitats. Deflated balloons and string can trap, entangle, suffocate and kill thousands of marine animals every year, including sea turtles that eat balloons because they think they are jellyfish. When animals eat a deflated balloon it becomes lodged in their digestive tract, trapping air and disrupting their ability to dive. This leads to an animal's inability to feed or protect itself and, eventually, the animal will starve to death.
SOURCE: Turtle Island Restoration Network
Photo credit (this article): Justin Williams
More detail at TIRN website:
Year after year, balloon-related litter is one of the most prevalent and identifiable items found ingested by local wildlife. Animals like sea turtles, coastal birds, and fish are often found entangled in the ribbon attached to balloons:
TIRN Tackles Cigarette Butt Litter Issue in Galveston
Turtle Island Restoration Network (TIRN) and Surfrider Foundation's Galveston Chapter are working to reduce the enormous number of discarded cigarette butts on the island's beaches, streets, and sidewalks by installing at least 50 butt cans as part of the "Hold On To Your Butt" (HOTYB) program. The program will collect the butt litter at a number of locations on the seawall, downtown, in parks, and on fishing piers throughout Galveston Island. The program will also launch a recycling program, create a public education and outreach program, and engage volunteers in citizen science. Volunteers will collect data and send the butts to be recycled by TerraCycle.
Turtle Island Restoration Network (TIRN) and Surfrider Foundation's Galveston Chapter are working to reduce the enormous number of discarded cigarette butts on the island's beaches, streets, and sidewalks by installing at least 50 butt cans as part of the "Hold On To Your Butt" (HOTYB) program. The program will collect the butt litter at a number of locations on the seawall, downtown, in parks, and on fishing piers throughout Galveston Island. The program will also launch a recycling program, create a public education and outreach program, and engage volunteers in citizen science. Volunteers will collect data and send the butts to be recycled by TerraCycle.
Cigarette butt litter is the most common form of litter found in beach cleanups and the filters in the butts are made from plastic. This litter is unsightly and is dangerous to marine life; birds and fish accidentally ingest it thinking it is food and the hazardous chemicals from one butt contaminates two gallons of seawater, making it lethal to small marine life like crustaceans. Unfortunately, cigarette butts have become an almost socially acceptable form of litter.
SOURCE: Turtle Island Restoration Network
More detail here:
UPCOMING CLEANUP OPPORTUNITIES:
Texas General Land Office, Adopt-A-Beach semi-annual cleanup, Saturday, September 18, 9:00 am to 12:00 noon.
Check registration link for specific locations, details, liability forms, etc.
Partners in Litter Prevention (PLP)
PLP is a new region-wide coalition of groups whose mission is to investigate and prevent the adverse impacts of litter and plastic pollution on our local natural resources, wildlife, economy, public health and our quality of life. PLP will be coordinating and helping to publicize local cleanup events, and supporting research and documentation on the types and sources of litter and plastic pollution. More info on PLP can be found at the PLP website.
The PLP website includes a regional map for upcoming cleanup events.
SPLASh - Stopping Plastics and Litter Along Shorelines.
Another local effort to address coastal plastic pollution is SPLASh.
In 2020, American Bird Conservancy, Gulf Coast Bird Observatory and Black Cat GIS formed SPLASh, or Stopping Plastics and Litter Along Shorelines, in order to address the overlapping issues of trash pollution and wildlife conservation. SPLASh holds regular cleanups open to the public as well as organizing events for schools, businesses, and various groups.
Learn more at the SPLASh website.
For questions/comments on items in this article, contact Frank Blake at frankblake@juno.com