Service Learning: Trashy Tuesdays

Garbage just off of Vashon Island

I chose for my service learning assignment to participate in Trashy Tuesday for two hours, which is sponsored by EdCC Center for Service-Learning. Trashy Tuesdays is available most Tuesdays during the year. The goal of Trashy Tuesdays is to clean up the trash around the campus and learn why it is so important. Today we met in MLT science room 220. Starting with a video and power point discussing the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch", which reported that there are five different locations of known garbage patches in the ocean. It also enlightened us on the effects to ocean organisms and birds as they often mistake the garbage as food. One of the reasons that the presentation focused on garbage in the ocean was because a lot of the garbage we throw out, or leave on our streets or campus, ends up in the storm drainage systems and eventually gets to the ocean. This is increased by the fact that we get so much rainfall, and have so many waterways and hills, garbage travels to the ocean very rapidly. We have the human capability and intelligence to recycle and properly dispose of our garbage, but yet as a society we do not care enough to do something as simple as putting our trash in the trashcan. One of the number one things that is found in the ocean garbage patches are plastic bottles. I believe this to be true as I was taking photos recently on Vashon Island and noticed a stream of garbage working its way into the Sound, which of course included a plastic bottle (pictured) as well as a McDonalds carryout bag. One other thing I learned from the video was that the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is twice the size of Texas and it displaces 60 lbs of plastic to every 1 lb of zooplankton.

I was paired with a student from a biology class on this very rainy day. We walked around campus picking up trash that was not disposed of properly. We then brought the trash back to the classroom to be hand sorted in an effort to get an idea of what trash is just being thrown to the ground. We then brainstormed to come up with ideas to help instill change towards what should be a simple act of human kindness to the earth.

This effects me deeply because I find great peace when I am out in nature. I suffer from depression that is anxiety induced. When I am hiking and see trash on the trails I worry that the impact of those that litter are going to ruin the experiences I may have in the future. I have even gone as far as taking garbage bags with me while urban hiking and picking up as much trash as I can in these bags, and this was before I knew about ocean acidification from pollution and the five known great garbage patches. I have hope that if people knew how bad this really was, the majority of them would want to preserve our environment. I know we have litter laws, but if you walk along the city streets, or drive any of the major highways you can see these are simply not being followed. So you may ask "where is Michele going to start"? With anything that is so important, we need to share the information with our kids, our family and friends, and our community. Having a plan for trash is important. Knowing how your going to dispose of something when your done with it, or it is no longer needed or working, may help make better purchasing decisions. Recycling those items that can be recycled is important, and refuse to shop at stores or malls that do not offer the ability to recycle. By reducing the amount of trash that we produce we can make a difference.

Marine biology is impacted by our very existence. It is not just our carbon footprint which assists in ocean acidification, but it is also how we dispose of our waste and how much of it we create. We live in a society where everything gets over packaged, and in such a way that the packaging is bulky and beyond wasteful. Our society builds things that are meant to need replacement, such as car tires, cell phones, and mattresses rather than build things that are meant to last. No one needs to redesign their living room every two years.

Some of the questions that came up while I was performing this service learning assignment:

• Why are we still finding so many cigarette butts on a "non-smoking" campus?
• The campus has so many available opportunities to dispose of trash properly, how can we better encourage students to properly throw out trash?
• How can we "clean up" the ocean garbage patches?
• Using Bio-degradable plastics, which should be composted rather than recycled, how can we easily tell the difference for proper disposal?

Contact information for Trashy Tuesdays signup:
    EdCC Center for Service-Learning
    206-637-6190
    phuong.pham@email.edcc.edu