JUNKRAFT

There is nothing quite like unexpected kindness when you’re on the road. In the last few days, we’ve had our share of spontaneous hospitality, a good reminder to offer this in turn, whenever we’re in a position to do so.

Our soggy departure from Seattle took us down Vashon Island - densely wooded, lush Northwest rainforest. We mostly rode inland, but had a few glimpses of the shoreline, scattered with logs, ferns and pines touching the gravelly beach.

After 20 miles of riding in the rain, the hospitality of Mindy Roberts and Jim Gawel was a warm welcome. They threw together an impromptu dinner party to greet us - salmon and halibut medallions baked in a filo dough, carmelized squash, sautéed young asparagus, and for dessert, warm chocolate chip brownies a la mode, served with ice wine and coffee port. Good thing we’re burning the calories! Mindy and Jim are both experts in the field - Jim is a professor of Environmental Science at the University of Tacoma, and Mindy is a water quality specialist with the city. Needless to say, dinner conversation turned to trash.

Next stop, Olympia, where we gave a talk with Surfrider at the Capitol Theater downtown. Riding into Olympia, we watched oil leaking from a Diesel truck pour into an open storm drain, while a clean up crew scrambled to staunch the flow. This is exactly how our plastic debris enters the oceans. From our streets, to storm drains, to rivers, to the sea.

Later that evening, over a beer at the Fish Tale, we asked Shannon Serrano, chair of the Seattle and beyond Surfrider chapters, where Olympia was in introducing a bag ban/fee.  “People here are waiting to see what happens in Seattle”, she replied. This seems to be true for many smaller municipalities – after the ACC incident last year, all eyes are on Seattle to see if they succeed this time around. Go People for Puget Sound!

Set out the next morning on perhaps our most beautiful ride yet – lazy backcountry roads meandering through pastoral farmlands, cows and sheep grazing on dewy fields, even a few classic red barns dotting the hillsides. We were tempted to stop in Centralia – especially Marcus, who still hasn’t given into the idea of padded shorts (wondering how long he’ll hold out) but pushed on.

From Centralia, the map showed a few more sizable towns where in theory we might find a motel before the final push into Portland. Dark clouds began rolling in. “Lets stop at the next farm and ask for directions”. We both spotted a lone woman, wearing jeans and a flannel shirt, dragging a large wooden fencepost to a hole she had dug.

“That’s not a sight we often see in Los Angeles!” She looked up and smiled, warm blue eyes and an easy laugh. We told her we were looking for a nearby hotel, and stopped to chat for a bit. “If it’s just a place to stay you’re looking for, we’ve got a guest room…” Marcus shot me a look, eager to get off his sore saddle for a bit. “Well….” we played out the hotel scenario – she called ahead to the closest motel, the “Paws Inn”, only to find out that it’s a pet hotel. “So were you serious about that guest room?”

Within half an hour, Marcus was busily digging ditches and stringing up her fence, while I cooked Gumbo (of all things) in her kitchen. By sunset, the fence was fixed, dinner was on the table, and we both felt better about taking her up on the offer. A perfect serendipity! She was equally appreciative of the mini plastics presentation we gave over dinner, and stunned to see our Gyre sample. “I suppose part of the solution is simply educating one person at a time….” She remarked.

Another 70 miles, and we finally made it to Portland!

Here, we with the most luxury accommodations we’ll likely see on this trip. Pam, the owner of a gorgeous B+B called the Heron Haus, had read about JUNKride, and offered up a room pro bono. Having volunteered for years with the Marine Mammal center in San Francisco, environmental issues are close to her heart. She gave us the spa room, cooked us a beautiful breakfast, and took some time to chat debris. A good nights sleep before the next days presentation was the best support imaginable!

One day outside of Seattle, and were finally experiencing the true Pacific Northwest – steady, cold rains, with views spectacular enough to distract (at least somewhat) from the deluge.

6 events in 4 days gave us less time than we needed to keep our blog up to date, so were finally catching up over a toe-warming latte in Steilacoom, reflecting on our jam packed time in Seattle.

We rode in last Wednesday afternoon from Edmonds, stopping on the way for a few orders of spring rolls before heading to the home of my old college buddy Grady Karp, his wife Stephanie, and their little girl Phoebe. I think she’s headed for cutest creature on a bike award….

Our first night here, we gave a talk at Fremont Studios to a group of graphic designers, thanks to AIGA and Mohawk papers. Without a doubt one of the hippest venues we’ve spoken in yet – a huge, funky movie/commercial set space, with an intimate screening room. We were met there by the effusively friendly Kelly Chrey, a woman I’d met months ago at the Go Green Expo in LA, and our link to AIGA. We met a few graphic designers interested in helping out, which we will gladly take them up on!

Spoke the next morning to two big groups of students at Salmon Bay School, a wonderful, progressive Seattle school, which turned out to be a stones throw from Grady’s home in Ballard.

That evening we headed to Bloom Seattle, an extremely cool event that we luckily snuck into at the 11th hour, thanks to Gabriel Scheer, founder of Seattle’s active Green Drinks chapter. Held in a swanky space called “Sole Repair”, the event brought 8 different speakers for a “TED meets Ignite” style event. The idea was for a fast paced, lively series, where each speaker had either 10 or 18 minutes exactly to give their talk.

Bloom gave us an awesome opportunity to learn from the other speakers, as well as spread our message. There was Molly Moon, a hilarious and very endearing organic ice cream maker, who shared her vision to both make delicious ice cream out of local ingredients, and to create a true, sustainable vision by providing good worker health care. Wish we’d had time to sample! Our sweet tooth was definitely sated though by Joe from Theo’s Chocolates, who makes outrageously sinful chocolate “with love”, the most important ingredient. An avid sailor as well, he mentioned in his presentation that he’d had a chance to witness the “plastic soup” while sailing from Seattle to Hawaii. My biggest regret: that we ran out of time to tour his chocolate factory!

The next two days found us at the Rendezvous Theater for a Surfrider event, on Bainbridge Island with Islandwood to speak at Enviropolooza, and back in Seattle for a final “gyre themed” party hosted by Heather Trim, one of Seattle’s great sustainable forces.

Heather works with People for Puget Sound, a local environmental organization pushing for plastic bag legislation. Marcus met Heather last year, during Seattle’s sabotaged attempt to pass a ban on plastic bags. The ACC caught wind of the proposed legislation, and paid people to gather signatures, between $2 and $8 per signature!

According to one article, people were confused about what exactly they were signing – one woman claims she thought she was signing a petition to ban plastic bags. Foul play we thinks?

To make sure Seattle passes the ban this time, Heather has been working on some good old grassroots organizing, such as throwing a house party, and inviting some “on the fencers” to hear us give our talk. And coming up with the following “bag themed” menu and a signature gyre drink:

Blended margaritas, sprinkled with coconut flakes and chopped fruit, which looked remarkably like the gyre sample we gave Heather. Fortunatey no one confused the two….

Menu: Wrapped grape leaves, rutaBAGa puree, CabBAGe salad, vegetable crudite with BAGna dipping sauce, tomato basil BAGuettes, and for dessert, ZaBAGlione, and a lovely fruit salad in a Watermelon carved into a bag.

With Heather leading the charge to make sure the ban passes this time, we feel confident that Seattle will be the next city to join the growing list of cities bagging the bag.

Next up: From Olympia to Portland!

Strom Peterson is a new councilmember eager to see his city make its mark in the State of Washington as community responding responsibly to the latest research in the environmental sciences.  Plastic bags are high on Councilman Peterson’s list of issues to tackle.  He invited us to the Edmonds City Council on the day we ride into town.  At 7pm Anna and I stand before the city council presenting our gyre sample and string of plastics pulled from an albatross skeleton.  In our brief powerpoint presentation we showed slides of the environmental impact, including a plastic bag hanging out of the back end of a green turtle.  “This is the impact of our plastic waste on the world,” Anna explained.

What we know is that 44% of the world’s total seabird species have been found with plastic in or around their bodies, 22 species of cetaceans, all marine sea turtles and a fast-growing list of fish.  That list of fish illuminates the human health issue.  The Algalita Marine Research Foundation has found high levels of PCBs, pesticides and PAHs, from the incomplete burning of fossil fuels, absorbed and adsorbed onto particles of plastic.  We also found those same plastic fragments inside the stomachs of 1/3 of the 600 fish we sampled last Spring. And during the JUNKraft expedition, we caught a Rainbow Runner, which you might find in restaurants and fish markets, with a stomach filled with plastic.

Do these plastic particles desorb into the tissues and organs of food we eat?  This is what the Algalita Marine Research Foundation aims to find out.  Current research shows that some organic pollutants do, like PCBs migrating from ingested plastic into the organs of albatross, and other pollutants migrating into the tissues of benthic worms.  This is the human health component that we fear.  Plastic waste is proving to be a transport mechanism for persistent organic pollutants to enter marine food webs.

Strom Peterson argued persuasively about the need to take action to circumvent the trashing of our oceans, and ultimately ourselves. Anna and I are grateful that he gave us a chance to share the facts with Edmonds.  And a sample of cheese from his family cheese shop.

Our 4 days of blessed sunny skies are finally giving way to some ominous rain clouds rolling in – such is the Pacific Northwest. We’ve ridden around 100 miles so far, through rolling, forested hills dotted with picturesque small towns, from Victoria, to Sequim, to our second scheduled talk at the Port Townsend Marine Science Center.

This wonderful organization, headed by local hero Anne Murphy, has developed a partnership with Algalita over the years after inviting Marcus up to speak in 2006. They’ve since launched their own local plastics monitoring program, studying plastic debris on Puget sound beaches, and now looking at the stomach contents of Glaucous Winged Gulls.

After giving our talk Monday evening, an interesting conversation followed about the challenges their community is facing trying to pass a plastic bag ban. Though Port Townsend is a progressive town, some people – including the business community -  simply don’t like being told what to do. One audience member, our new friend and cycling hero Doug Ross, had a great suggestion:

“As you continue your journey riding down the west coast, you will pass through other communities facing the same issues. Why don’t you keep track of how other people are dealing with this, and let us know what’s working?”

Noted. And we put this same question to you: what approaches to cities wary of more legislation, more government intervention, do you think are effective?

Though our visit in Port Townsend was too short, we met some interesting folks in less than 24 hours: Bob aka “Bagel Guy”, who delivers fresh bagels on his Xtracycle, Rick aka “Salmon Man”, who delivers fresh, sustainable salmon on an 18 foot Xtracycle w/ trailer, and our gracious hosts Liz and Dave, who generously fed, housed, and entertained us.

The following morning we visited Grant Elementary on our way out of town, to speak with an inquisitive group of 5th graders. Talking with young people is always gratifying, our greatest hope for a better future….and then, our first bout of bike issues – a flat tire, a missing bolt on my Xtracycle, and a busted chain for Marcus. Thanks to Doug and a nearby bike coop, all were resolved quickly, and we headed on for a beautiful 34 mile ride to Edmonds. Some views from the ride:

Council Member Strom Peterson had contacted us a few months back, inviting us to speak at a council meeting. Edmonds is just beginning the process of introducing legislation to ban plastic bags, so this was a tremendous opportunity for us to share our research. Full report on this coming soon!

Victoria, BC
After an incredible first few days in Vancouver, we’re relaxing for a few hours in Victoria, reflecting on the kindness of our new friends and supporters. It really does take a village….

As our plane touched ground, the unusual April snow melted into a light rain, and we both wondered how two weather wimps would handle riding through wet, cold rain. Fortunately we met with a warm welcome from Jean Fong at the Vancouver Aquarium, who had contacted us last August about kicking off our JUNKride from their grounds. A perfect location, as the Aquarium is known for their conservation education, and outreach programs.

We spent the next 3 days building and tweaking our bikes, giving a talk at the UBC Fisheries Centre, rising at 5:00 am for a live radio spot on CBC, and enjoying a few Vancouver sights thanks to our wonderful hosts – new friends and fellow chocolate lovers, Steve and Karen Dadson. The Dadson’s opened their award winning home (designed by their son Leland), treated us to Vancouver’s finest java, and made sure we were well fed and cheered before our long journey.

Friday night we gave our talk to a full house at the Aquarium, and had a chance to chat afterwards with teachers, students, and interested community members. Everyone seemed to get the message – that we need to act now to get off of throwaway, petroleum products. We’re encouraged to see a new group of people engaged to make changes.

The next morning, we gathered at the Aquarium for a press conference with our friend and fellow eco-adventurer Roz Savage. Two Canadian stations - CTV and Global – came to hear our messages, along with a crowd of supporters. We shared our junk with the news stations – a sample from the North Pacific Gyre, a string of toothbrushes, lighters, etc pulled from an Albatross carcass, and a blown up photo of the fish Marcus caught this summer, with 17 pieces of plastic in its stomach. And with light hearts, we hopped on our heavy bikes and pedaled away, to begin our first 40-mile stretch to Victoria.

7 hours of stunning scenery later, we’re resting our rookie legs, and digesting the pizza we devoured in record time. And feeling incredibly grateful for the chance to share our message with new audiences along the west coast.

This week’s New Yorker issue features an article on David De Rothschild and the Plastiki Voyage. In writing the article, the journalist (naturally) called Marcus to fact check a bit on our JUNKraft project, a similar voyage with a similar mission. We were extremely disappointed with the portrayal of JUNK - downplayed as an “adventure project” on a raft quickly thrown together with junk. We only have to look to our thousands upon thousands of comments from touched readers, our coverage on channels like Martha Stewart and Good Morning America, and the outpouring of interest from legislators and media to know our project was a success. Here’s a response from Marcus.

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Far from an adventure story, our expedition on 15,000 plastic bottles floating across the Pacific is to “End the Age of Throw Away Plastic.” John Colapinto’s article about the Plastiki sadly ignores the issue at hand and ridicules what the JUNKraft crew accomplished.  The New Yorker had an opportunity to present a meaningful dialogue about the global distribution of plastic waste across the world’s oceans, yet chose a tabloid-esque drama to report.  Here’s what your readers lost.

I want my fellow Americans to understand the true life cycle of our plastic trash.  Our “Throw Away” society produces 120 billion pounds of plastic in the U.S. alone, and recovers less than 5%.  That recovered post-consumer plastic waste (bottles, caps, bags, straws, etc…)  is not typically recycled in our country.  I recently visited America’s greatest landfill in Puente Hills, California.  Of the 1300 tons of trash they receive daily, they recover plenty of plastic, but when asked, “Where does it go?” the reply was, “China.”   On top of that, we lose much of our plastic waste out to sea.  The JUNKraft expedition was my third time visiting the Eastern Garbage Patch.  I’ve had the privilege of working with Captain Charles Moore to see first-hand the rapid accumulation of plastics in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, as far from land as you can get in the world.  We found fish full of plastic. Years earlier I had pulled hundreds of bottle caps, lighters and toothbrushes out of the carcasses of Laysan Albatross on Midway Atoll. The environmental costs are enormous, and then there’s human health.

On the JUNKraft expedition, as our food reserves dwindled, we caught fish, specifically a Rainbow Runner.  Joel Paschal, co-navigator, and I discovered their stomachs filled with plastics. We know that plastic as sea is a sponge for pollutants, like DDT, other pesticides, PCBs, and PAHs, from the incomplete burning of fossil fuels.  Ingested plastic carries these toxins into the food that we harvest, and you and I eat.  I don’t want garbage accumulating in my body from what’s on my dinner plate.  I don’t want these synthetic compounds accumulating in my tissues and organs, or the bodies of my family, or my future children.

Anna Cummins, my fiancé and partner in the JUNKraft project, will soon conduct her own body burden analysis. It is sad that every American currently carries a body burden of synthetic chemicals in his or her tissues and organs. Anna and I about to embark on a 2000-mile cycling/speaking tour about plastic waste down the west coast of North America, called JUNKride.  Somewhere along the way we will marry, and someday start a family. It is a sad note that the surest way to unload your toxic load is to give it to your newborn child through breastmilk. We are terrified of this, as every American should be.  The true lifecycle of throw-away plastic is that it is to wasteful to value.

When I talk about the entire lifecycle, I need to include the raw material for plastic, which we all know is petroleum.  In 1991, as a U.S. Marine, I stood in the desert outside Kuwait City covered with oil falling from burning wells.  I understand very well the price average Americans pay for our ‘written policies to go war to secure access to the energy reserves of the Persian Gulf’ (I’m quoting James Baker here, former U.S. Secretary of State).  This is the beginning of the lifecycle of plastic.  Then we create billions of pounds of plastic and distribute it around the world, knowing that recovery and recycling are largely inefficient, and knowing that the chemistry of plastic is bioactive in the marine environment and in our bodies.  This is the true cost of throw-away plastic on society, which we unknowingly pay so that we may have the convenience of throw-away plastics.  I truly believe that if every American understood lifecycle of plastic waste, then we as a nation would do the right thing.  My first bottle boat, “Bottle Rocket” built in 2003, carried me down the Mississippi River, where I rediscovered the beauty of my country and the goodness of us. With the right information, we make the right choices.

This is the full story of plastic, from its origin to its final resting place.  This is the information I gave to the New Yorker during the interview.  I’m sorry that it was ignored.  I have had the opportunity to talk with David de Rothschild several times.  David and I both understand that we independently came up with the idea for a raft named Plastiki.  JUNKraft was my 8th plastic boat, and the biggest so far.  Long before I had even heard of de Rothschild I had been telling everyone about my ultimate bottle boat.  David has the same story.  But we differ in our message.  David’s boat is an exploration of technical possibility.  JUNKraft is about cultural change, in response to the science of plastic marine debris.

Advocating more recycling as the solution to throw-away plastic is not going to solve the problem of trash accumulating in the world’s oceans.  Glass and metal are efficiently recyclable, but more importantly, are benign when lost.  They don’t really affect other living things.  Glass becomes sand, aluminum oxidizes, but plastic is bioactive and persists for years or decades.  The solution is not to simply advocate recycling of plastic waste, but to find alternatives to throw-away plastics: there is no such thing as away.  It makes no sense to us a non-biodegradable material designed to last forever, and make products from it designed to be thrown away.  The Age of Throw Away Plastic must end.

To the Platiki team, I wish you a safe journey ahead.  I know your expedition will highlight new technologies and perhaps bring new innovations to the table.  Best of luck, fair winds and following seas.

Marcus Eriksen, PhD
JUNKraft co-navigator

Were here!! Arrived in Vancouver a few hours ago to a cold, steady drizzle. At least its not snowing anymore…

After a quick tour of the city and some Vietnamese food with Jean, our kind friend from the Vancouver Aquarium, we’re staying warm in a coffee shop, waiting to meet our generous hosts Karen and Steve Dadson.

We’re incredibly grateful for all the support we’ve received along the way. Last week, our friends at Patagonia outfitted us with key rain gear, warm layers, and even warmer wishes.Then Bike Attack in Santa Monica gave us an industrial strength bike light and a softer saddle, which will be key during some long days in the saddle.

Tomorrow we’ll reassemble our bikes, take a rainy test ride, and relax a bit before a few big days ahead. Friday begins with a morning talk at the UBC Fisheries Centre, and an evening presentation with our friend and hero Roz Savage at the Aquarium, followed by a wine and cheese reception.

Then Saturday, we begin our adventure, pedaling 2,000 miles to encourage an end to the age of throwaway plastics. And learn about local efforts to address sustainability along the way.

Just 6 days until we take off for Vancouver. We’re in final prep mode, running around like mad, between school presentations. packing, travel, and events. Spent yesterday in Sacramento at Oceans Day, with Heal The Bay and Surfrider, where we were able to share Algalita’s research with legislators in the Capitol. And begin rousing some interest in bringing JUNKraft to Sacramento for our ride through….

A few recent articles on JUNKride joined the growing pool of media interest in the plastics issue. Yesterday, a nice article in the Grunion Gazette, and an earlier one about us “Sweating for the Sea” in the LA Times Greenspace. And last week, we got a dual award from Quikscience, for informal education - the contribution comes at a perfect time!

Our bikes are packed, our place is almost empty, and our excitement is rising fast. Start checking the calendar to see when we’ll be riding through your area!

Getting a foot in the door at the highly esteemed TED conference is no easy feat. The leading minds, innovators and designers, and from all over the world vie for a chance to share their “ideas worth spreading” at this historic annual conference. The rest of us pore over podcasts.

Here is one to enjoy - Captain Charles Moore, founder of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation, shares his work studying plastic debris in the Pacific Ocean.

The solution he offers to the steady accumulation of plastics in the ocean: stop the problem at its source.