Outdoor Conservation: September 2018

Plastic is everywhere. Literally everywhere. It's in the microbeads in toiletries, it's woven into clothing as synthetic fibers, it's the waxy coating on a paper cup, it's in shiny wrapping paper that's ubiquitous at holidays, it's in everything we consume on a daily basis and don't even realize it. The microfibers and microbeads end up in the water supply and are literally everywhere.

Plastic is cheap, durable, and can be used in almost anything. From a business perspective, I understand; from an environmental perspective, I'm appalled.

The biggest problem with plastics are the single use plastics. That includes straws, cigarette filters, cups from drive thru restaurants, plastic zippy bags from the kitchen, food jars, milk jugs, yogurt containers, plastic bags of any kind, drink lids, to go cutlery, drink bottles, single person water bottles, and the list goes on and on. It's nearly never ending.

That plastic single use straw you didn't really need to drink your soda at the restaurant where you ate lunch isn't recyclable, and will end up in the trash, and therefore in a landfill, and maybe one day end up in the ocean, and then in a sea turtle. That may sound extreme, but it happens.

Straws are the gateway plastic.

Yesterday I encountered single use plastic no fewer than 4 times even though I spent most of my day at home yesterday and ate out only for breakfast because I was desperate and late for work.

#1 - Smoothie King to go cup and lid

#2 - Smoothie King straw

#3 - Film packaging on a package of ground beef

#4 - Plastic jar of spaghetti sauce

Single use plastics are often not recyclable, or are not recycled even when they are recyclable.

But then there are the bigger battles. My Smoothie King cup was unfortunately plastic, but that's an improvement over styrofoam, so also my cup was fortunately plastic. I can't recycle the straw they gave me and they wouldn't take it back at the window so I ended up just giving in and using it. The battles continues on every day.

There is reason to hope, of course. There always is. Hope is never fully lost.

There are simple actionable tasks you can do daily to reduce your plastic consumption. To name a few:

1) Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!

2) Refuse a straw. You don't need it. You habitually think you do, but you don't.

3) Say no to the plastic bag. Bring your own reusable bags to the shop.

4) Use a reusable and refillable water bottle instead of single use bottles.

5) Bring a reusable container for leftovers if you go out to eat.

6) Pack your meals in reusable containers instead of plastic baggies.

7) Avoid toiletries with microbeads in them

8) Don't buy items that are wrapped in plastic

9) Lunch takeout in the workday is easily solved - keep reusable cutlery, napkins, & a straw in your desk

10) Buy in bulk and store the extra so you can reduce packaging!

11) DON'T LITTER.

I personally already bring reusable bags to the grocery by keeping a stash in my car. I also have reusable produce bags. I have metal straws stashed in my car and desk at work. I have a stash of spoons leftover from the froyo place that I leave in my desk and take home and wash periodically. I typically bring my lunch in plastic containers but they're reusable. I have a reusable Camelbak water bottle that I have been toting around with me since Flagstaff AZ in 2009. It's plastic but going on 10 years old now. That's a lot of single use bottles saved! I don't eat takeout often but generally I will not get a drink if possible. When I drink sodas I tend to drink them in cans to limit plastic consumption but also soda consumption by volume.

Like everyone I have areas to work on. I end up at Subway once a week or so and end up with the plastic bag. However I at least reuse the plastic bags I do end up with to clean the cat litter box (though I could probably be more environmentally friendly here too, hmm....). I still need to focus more on plastic packaging at the grocery store, which is the hardest place to reduce consumption because the options are often limited.

Despite the prevalence and ease of single use plastics, we don't need them. Do your part. Reduce your use of plastic in your everyday life. Recycle what you do end up with.

Sign the National Geographic pledge to reduce your plastic consumption HERE.

Organizations doing good work

Plastic Pollution Coalition

National Geographic: Planet or Plastic?

The Ocean Cleanup

4Ocean

More information:

WE MADE PLASTIC. WE DEPEND ON IT. NOW WE'RE DROWNING IN IT.

National Geographic, accessed 27 September 2018

Get Started Living Plastic Free

Plastic Pollution Coalition, accessed 27 September 2018

Fast Facts About Plastic Pollution

National Geographic, accessed 27 September 2018

Fact Sheet: Single Use Plastics

Earth Day Network, accessed 27 September 2018

LESSONS FROM PLASTIC FREE JULY

Bee's Wrap, accessed 27 September 2018

Half a billion plastic straws are used and discarded every day. What an unacceptable waste

Los Angeles Times, accessed 27 September 2018

Plastic Pollution

Our World in Data, accessed 27 September 2018

Friday, September 21, 2018

Weekly Science Round-up: 9/21/2018

Oyster shells used to end up in landfills. Now, they’re being turned into castles for baby oysters The New Food Economy, 9/10/2018

Forests Are the Forgotten Climate Solution, Experts Say National Geographic, 9/10/2018
In Alaska, Starving Seabirds and Empty Colonies Signal a Broken Ecosystem Audubon, 9/11/2018

Half the planet should be set aside for wildlife – to save ourselves New Scientist, 9/13/2018

House committee vote boosts Coloradans’ hopes Land and Water Conservation Fund will be renewed Denver Post, 9/13/2018

State pitches reluctant Plaquemines Parish on controversial coastal project Fox 8 News New Orleans, 9/14/2018

FlipFlopi launches first ever prototype of marine-litter boat UN Environment, 9/15/2018

Prickly cactus species 'under threat' BBC, 9/15/2018

Extreme weather: The effects of climate change are already here The Logic of Science, 9/17/2018

Gulf of Mexico oil spill much worse than thought, federal lawyers say Orlando Sentinel, 9/17/2018

Rediscovery of red wolf ghost alleles in a canid population along the American Gulf Coast bioRxIV, 9/18/2018

NASA Carbon Dioxide Update NASA, 9/18/2018

Trump administration rolls back methane pollution rule despite harmful health impacts, The Guardian, 9/18/2018

Scientists Just Built ‘Robot Jellyfish’ to Explore and Observe the Ocean Inertia, 9/18/2018

U.S. states and Canada advance 10-year salmon preservation plan Anchorage Daily News, 9/18/2018

Keeping Score on Earth's Rising Seas NASA, 9/18/2018

Environmentalists to sue Trump admin to protect giraffes The Hill, 9/18/2018

Last Straw: The Path to Reducing Plastic Pollution Stanford News, 9/18/2018

Guilt-Free on the Sea? Hakai Magazine, 9/18/2018

Plastic-eating Mosquitoes Could Threaten Animal Food Chains Newsweek, 9/19/2018

---See also: Up and away: ontogenic transference as a pathway for aerial dispersal of microplastics Biology Letters, 9/19/2018

Why do we hate wasps and love bees? BBC, 9/19/2018

---See also, Why we love bees and hate wasps Ecological Entomology, 9/19/2018

Thawing permafrost may release more CO2 than previously thought, study suggests Phys.org, 9/19/2018

Captain Cook's HMS Endeavour might have been found in US BBC, 9/19/2018

25 cool volunteer opportunities for National Public Lands Day September 22, 2018 USA Today, 9/19/2018

Scientists have uncovered a secret “White Shark Cafe” in the middle of the Pacific Ocean Quartz, 9/19/2018

In Greenland, a glacier's collapse shows climate impact Reuters, 9/19/2018

RemoveDebris: UK satellite nets 'space junk' BBC, 9/19/2018

Saving the Planet Doesn’t Mean Killing Economic Growth Bloomberg, 9/19/2018

Chris Packham launches People's Manifesto for Wildlife, The Guardian, 9/19/2018

More than ever, our clothes are made of plastic. Just washing them can pollute the oceans. Vox, 9/19/2018

Mars aims to tackle "broken" cocoa model with new sustainability scheme Reuters, 9/19/2018

Here’s A Radical New Plan To Tax Carbon And Give Everyone In America $2,237 Huffington Post, 9/19/2018

Resiliency in the face of hurricanes makes the case for renewables even stronger Quartz, 9/19/2018

Unprecedented ice loss in Russian ice cap Phys.org, 9/19/2018

Marsh restoration project shows signs of life Houston Chronicle, 9/19/2018

Are Plastic Six-Pack Rings Still Ensnaring Wildlife? National Geographic, 9/19/2018

Fragmented Protections Fail Top Predators Hakai Magazine, 9/20/2018

Giant pandas can tell a mate from their calls BBC, 9/20/2018

Map Shows Why Critically Endangered Rhinos Struggle to Survive National Geographic, 9/20/2018

Cane toad DNA breakthrough 'may help stop' toxic pest BBC, 9/20/2018

Thursday, September 20, 2018

Clothing Industry and the Environment

I never realized until lately how much of an impact the clothing industry has on the environment. I've always been cheap to a fault (let's pretend it's frugality...) and I'm not exactly the most fashion forward person I know. My mom has on more than one occasion called me "a walking fashion faux pas".

After reading a few depressing news articles recently, I am much more aware of the impacts from clothing manufacturing. Water usage (particularly for cotton) is very high, water pollution is common - about 20% of all industrial water pollution is from clothing production [source], different materials have different carbon footprints, clothes are not worn as long as previously, and the consumer culture lifestyle lends itself to higher purchasing rates. And that doesn't even take into account the micro particles and micro plastics that could escape your clothes through the washing machine and run off into the ocean. It's incredibly depressing.

I am not exactly the exception to the rule but my cheapness lends itself to being a relatively minor clothing consumer. I wear clothes until they don't fit, get irreparable holes, literally fall apart, or can't be worn in public anymore. What doesn't fit but would fit others I donate. Those that fall apart I turn into cleaning rags (we always need more in this house with 3 pets) that I wash and reuse until those too fall apart.

But I'm not the norm.

HOWEVER! It's not all doom and gloom. There are many options the consumer has at his or her disposal. You can...

1) Wear your clothes until they can't be worn any more.

2) Buy clothes only when necessary. Sometimes it's necessary, like when you're down to 1 pair of wearable pants. Eliminating unnecessary clothing purchases will also be nicer to your wallet too.

3) Buy USED clothes. There's tons of options locally usually (Goodwill, Plato's Closet, etc) but also I'm a huge fan of REI's new Used Gear Shop. I tend to go through outdoor clothing pretty regularly so I'm in love with this.

4) Buy responsible clothing. There's tons of options for this too! Although they're more expensive. But if you're buying less clothing you're probably still coming out in the black.

5) Rent clothing for those fancy events. I get dressed up for a formal affair 1 or MAYBE 2 times a year, so this is an option for me but may not be for everyone else. I have a formal gala coming up so I decided to rent a dress for $30 instead of buying a dress that I'll likely not wear again. I get to spend less money, not have to leave my house to go shopping, and I don't add to my closet!

However, sometimes you just need new clothes. I have started to look into buying used clothes like #3 above and also looked for companies that are environmentally responsible. I have purchased items from a few of these and definitely plan to check out more of these because I love their missions.

* TenTree - they plant 10 trees for every item sold
* REI Used Gear Shop - practically brand new gear/clothing for cheaper than new!
* Patagonia Worn Wear - used Patagonia gear!
* United By Blue - for every item sold they remove 1 pound of plastic from oceans/waterways
* HoodLamb - makes their clothing out of hemp in a responsible way
* Mable - bamboo toothbrushes that are sustainable and that intrigues me even though not clothing
* Ivory Ella - 10% of profits goes to Save the Elephants which I LOVE
* Makai Clothing Co - 10% of profits goes to sea turtle conservation which I also LOVE
* Sand Cloud - 10% goes to #savethefishies
* 4Ocean - every bracelet removes 1 pound of plastic from the ocean!
* Parks Project - profits go to funding projects in the US National Parks!
* The North Face Renewed - renewed used North Face clothing!
* prAna - fair trade, sustainable, you name it
* Vissla - upcycled board shorts and tees
* Pura Vida Bracelets - profits go to various causes including dolphin and ocean conservation
* Lokai Bracelets - profits also go to various causes including Oceana and WWF
* Happy Sloth Co - 10% of profits donated to sloth protection and conservation
* Passport Ocean - 15% of profits go to ocean and marine life causes
* Take More Adventures - every item sold plants 10 trees
* Awake the Soul Outdoor Clothing Co - 10% is donated to helping families get clean water
* The Parks Apparel - each clothing item bought protects 100 sq yd of wildlife habitat
* Signature Seas - 10% of profits to ocean cleanup and marine conservation

More Information:
The Apparel Industry’s Environmental Impact in 6 Graphics

World Resources Institute, accessed 19 September 2018

Fashion’s crippling impact on the environment is only getting worse

Vice News, accessed 19 September 2018

The environmental costs of fast fashion

Phys.org, accessed 19 September 2018

More than ever, our clothes are made of plastic. Just washing them can pollute the oceans.

Vox, accessed 20 September 2018

Fiber Selection:Understanding the impact of different fibers is the first step in designing environmentally responsible apparel

Natural Resources Defense Council accessed 19 September 2018

The fashion industry gains new tools to reduce its environmental load

Phys.org, accessed 19 September 2018

Clothing rental could be the key to a stylishly sustainable fashion industry

The Conversation, accessed 19 September 2018

Environmentalism: Enviro and Social Responsibility

Patagonia, accessed 19 September 2018

Wednesday, September 19, 2018

Swallow-tailed Kites

View this post on Instagram

Happiness is standing in the shade of a tall cypress tree, standing thigh deep in swamp muck, wearing waders full of sweat and possibly tears, questioning your life decisions that put you in this position to begin with, only to scan the sky and be rewarded with a sighting of one. A swallow-tailed kite. STKI. Elanoides forficatus. It's all worth it then. . They're beautiful, stunning, surprising, quiet, make your heart skip a beat then have too many beats, exciting, powerful, graceful, magical, and just plain cool. . They breed in the southeastern US and utilize mainly large stands of wetland forests, which means swamps and bottomland hardwood forests. They're migratory, so they migrate from nesting grounds to wintering grounds between seasons. You can find STKI in South and Central America in the winter. I haven't yet but I will. . Everyone needs a spirit animal to appreciate and love and be guided by and this is mine. . #optoutside #outdoorconservation #wetlands #swampstuff #scienceiscool #wetlandsarelife #swampsarecool #swallowtailedkite #atchafalaya #birdsarecool #baldcypress . 📸 @flying_cypress 2017

A post shared by @ outdoorconservation on Sep 19, 2018 at 2:10pm PDT

It's not Swallow-tailed Kite viewing season in the United States anymore as the birds have all headed to more southern latitudes, but that doesn't mean I can't look forward to my first sightings in the spring.

I've found a few resources to share about this magical beastie.

The Avian Research and Conservation Institute has trackers on a handful of STKI and they are blogging about it! Swallow-tailed Kite Migration

If you see a STKI, you can report your sighting! How cool is that? Report a sighting here!

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries also wants reports of STKI sightings in Louisiana. More information is available on their website.

Cornell University runs the ebird project and also has generated observations maps for STKI!

In my Google searching for more resources about STKI I found a facebook page! Now my facebook will be all full of STKI and that's fine with me. Check out Citizen Science for Swallow-tailed Kites! It's run by the Center for Birds of Prey.

The Orleans Audubon Society is one of the major partners involved in tracking Swallow-tailed Kites in Louisiana. Check out there page on the Swallow-tailed Kite Research and Conservation Project.

TIL there's a BOOK dedicated to Swallow-tailed Kites! Check out Tracking Desire: A Journey after Swallow-tailed Kites. BRB I must buy this right now.

Thursday, September 13, 2018

Cycling for the Planet

A friend of mine recently said he commutes by bike from a neighborhood near me to the same campus as me. We have similar careers and yet I am slacking it up over here by driving the 7.2 (car) miles roundtrip to work everyday. By bike, it's more like 10 miles roundtrip to use safer residential streets. But I digress. I fully have the means to bike a lot of days to work. There are days where it's not feasible or practical (like, before a work trip when I have overnight bag etc). There are more days per year though where it IS practical. So what am I doing??

So I started googling what the carbon footprint reduction would be if I rode my bike to work even half the days of the week, so 2-3 per week by bike. Firstly, let's define carbon footprint as the amount of CO2 (carbon dioxide) emitted during an activity or span of time. Example: yearly carbon footprint or in this story the amount of CO2 emitted by my work commute.

Based on the very cool tool MAPMYEMISSIONS, my commute carbon footprint by car is ~5lbs of carbon, roundtrip, everyday. That's around 25lbs of carbon produced per weekday just to get me to/from work. Lazy.

Into the rabbit hole I went, to learn about carbon footprint reduction, biking options, and how to do the math. However, I discovered that not everyone thinks biking is a perfectly clean alternative to driving solo in a car. It seems that some people think that fossil fuels powering your motorized vehicle and food powering me on my bike are equivalent. I'm looking at you, Harvard guy. But that's a false equivalence for me. My diet will stay the same, regardless of my mode of transportation to work. I have already mostly fine tuned my diet for my training and schedule so it won't change. Besides, I still have to eat to drive my car to work, so that's an assumption I am going to make in this experiment.

I pledge to ride my bike for 2 days per week until October, and bump it up to 3+ once the weather is nicer in the best month of the year and beyond. I often go to the gym before work, when it's still very dark out, and I'm not comfortable riding my bike to the gym at 530am. So I need to tweak my schedule but I think this is going to be great! How could it not be?

Now, if I could just have a widget tracker to keep myself accountable for how many days per week I ride my bike and stay on track!

More information:

Map My Emissions

accessed 12 September 2018

Climate Impacts of Biking vs. Driving

Harvard's Keith Group, accessed 12 September 2018

How much CO2 does cycling really save?

European Cyclists' Federation, accessed 12 September 2018

What's the carbon footprint of ... cycling a mile?

The Guardian, accessed 12 September 2018

Cycle like the Danes to cut carbon emissions, says study

The Guardian, accessed 12 September 2018

How Much Can Bicycling Help Fight Climate Change? A Lot, If Cities Try

Streets Blog USA, accessed 12 September 2018

Tuesday, September 11, 2018

Poaching and the Ethics of Hunting

Another whooping crane was shot recently down here in south Louisiana.

News article, for your infuriation: LDWF: La. man cited for shooting whooping crane

Whooping cranes are an endangered species, protected by the landmark Endangered Species Act. And besides that, they are clearly NOT to be confused for another animal that is legal game. And besides that, it wasn't a hunting season.

Anyone who poaches clearly has no respect for the wildlife they are illegally taking, and no respect for the wildlife management that might be in progress. Shooting a whooping crane in your crawfish pond, and then leaving the bird on the side of the pond shows such a flagrant disrespect for wildlife that in my opinion that person should never be issued another hunting license in his life. But that's just my own personal opinion.

I want to be clear though before anyone thinks I'm anti-hunting. Having respect for an animal does not mean you do not hunt. Often it is quite the opposite.

"A peculiar virtue in wildlife ethics is that the hunter ordinarily has no gallery to applaud or disapprove of his conduct. Whatever his acts, they are dictated by his own conscience, rather than that of onlookers. It is difficult to exaggerate the importance of this fact." -Aldo Leopold

Doing the right thing when nobody is watching is a sign of ethics and morality. And it goes hand in hand with ethical hunting.

1) Ethical hunting means following the rules. You respect and obey bag limits, size limits, harvest methods, season dates, and tactics as outlined for the location you are hunting in. There are limits for a reason, based on data collected by wildlife managers. Managers have the conservation of the species at the forefront of their plans.

2) Respect the animal you are hunting. This means taking good shots, using the appropriate tools at your disposal, and take a clean shot.

3) Allow for fair chase. Allow for the animal to have a reasonably fair chase of escape. "Put simply, fair chase is the pursuit of an animal in such a way that does not give the hunter an unfair advantage. " [source]

4) Respect the animal. That means once an animal is harvested, do not be wasteful. Utilize every part of the animal so that nothing goes to waste and the animal's life was meaningful. Shooting an animal you cannot use or will not use is disrespectful, wasteful, and generally counter productive to wildlife management goals.

5) Leave no trace. This principle is valid in every outdoors venture but also applicable when hunting. Don't destroy habitat, leave trash behind, tear up fields, or destroy vegetation in your pursuit of your quarry.

6) Respect land rights. Don't hunt on private property without permission (that is poaching!), and be respectful of other hunters around on whether on public or private property.

Surely there are more ethics that could be applicable for hunting, but those are the main ones. Anyone who poaches is acting in a deplorable manner. Harvesting any animal illegally is poaching, and that's not just with endangered animals.

I will never fully understand the mindset of people who poach, but I know in some areas there are compounding factors. The black market for things such as ivory is often enough impetus for poaching because people need money to eat. So in that scenario, poaching is a symptom of another problem to be fixed. Solve the crisis that is causing the poaching, and hopefully you solve both. I'm no expert but I can see the big picture and know that a lot will have to change.

I am not excusing people who poach to feed their families. I am just saying I see you, and I understand, and let's fix it.

More Information:
6 Hunting Ethics Every New Hunter Should Know
The Big Game Hunting Blog, accessed 8 September 2018

Ethical Hunting
Game Management Authority, accessed 8 September 2018

5 Solutions to Poaching
Vision Launch, accessed 8 September 2018

Africa's Poaching Crisis
The Dodo, accessed 8 September 2018

Stopping Poaching
World Wildlife Fund, accessed 8 September 2018

Conservation hero turns gorilla killers into eco-warriors

CNN, accessed 11 September 2018

Saturday, September 8, 2018

Official OC Book Club!

We have an official book club!

Outdoor Conservation Book Club on Goodreads

Come join the conversation!

Saturday, September 1, 2018

Conservation Book of the Month September 2018 - Desert Solitaire, Edward Abbey

I've decided to start reading 1 special conservation related book each month. Some will be new to me, some will be re-reads. This is one of my absolute favorites and timely given my NOLS course in February in the Arizona desert, so let's start there. Conservation book of the month for September 2018 is Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey! . "What do the coyotes mean when they yodel at the moon? What are the dolphins trying so patiently to tell us? Precisely what did those two enraptured gopher snakes have in mind when they came gliding toward my eyes over the naked sandstone?" - Edward Abbey in "Desert Solitaire" . #desertsolitaire #edwardabbey #bookofthemonth #conservation #desertsarecool #optoutside #stewardship

A post shared by @ outdoorconservation on Sep 1, 2018 at 7:52pm PDT

OC Book of the Month

I've decided to start reading 1 special conservation related book each month. Some will be new to me, some will be re-reads. I read pretty extensively in general, but haven't been focusing on science/conservation relevant material in awhile. This whole social media awareness/advocacy endeavor has reignited my spark so I am dedicated to going through the books related to this field.

I will alternate picks between classic books or iconic authors from the field, and newer more current reads.

If you'd like to join me on this educational and inspirational journey, check out our online book club on Goodreads! I have also been sharing quotes from each month's books using #ocbookofthemonth from @outdoorconserv :)

Desert Solitaire, Edward Abbey (September 2018): Review
Firestorm: How Wildfire Will Shape Our Future, Edward Struzik (October 2018): Review
Our National Parks, John Muir (November 2018): Review
Silent Spring, Rachel Carson (December 2018): Review
Who Rules the Earth?, Paul Steinberg (January 2019): Review
A Sand County Almanac, Aldo Leopold (February 2019) Review
Sea Change, Sylvia Earle (March 2019) Review
The Future of Life, EO Wilson (April 2019) Review
The Sixth Extinction, Elizabeth Kolbert (May 2019) Review
The Beak of the Finch, Jonathan Weiner (June 2019) Review
Grizzly Years, Doug Peacock (July 2019) Review
The Gulf: The Making of an American Sea, Jack E Davis (August 2019)