Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Let's say you ordered takeout last night.
Nothing fancy just noodles.
In one of those foam containers.
You toss it in the trash after you'redone with your food, without even
thinking anything of it like you've donea hundred times before, because that's
what happens when you order takeout.
But the container could break intomicroplastics, wash into a river, and
(00:20):
end up inside a sea turtle, a marinemammal, a seabird, any kind of animal.
It's not gonna decomposebecause that's not what it does.
It won't be recycled, and it may harmocean life for decades, oftentimes,
leaching chemicals into the body,including not only just regular animals
that you see, like seals of sea birdsand sea turtles, but also humans.
(00:44):
In this episode, we're gonna talkabout the journey of foam, those
styrofoam containers that we get fromtakeout places and other places, and
why it's time to stop using them.
Al. We're gonna be talking to Oceana'sChristie Levitt, who is the campaign
manager for Oceana on Plastics,especially talking about plastic foam.
(01:06):
And there's a new report that Oceanaproduced called Plastic Foam Needs to Go.
We're gonna talk about thatreport and why it should concern
you today and your health.
Let's start the show.
Hey everybody.
Welcome back to another exciting episodeof the How to Protect the Ocean Podcast.
I'm your host, Andrew Lewin, andthis is a podcast where you find
out what's happening with the ocean,how you can speak up for the ocean,
(01:28):
and what you can do to live fora better ocean by taking action.
And on today's episode, we're gonnabe talking about how campaigns work
to get certain things passed inlegislation, whether it's on the
federal, the state, or local levels.
There are people out there workingfor organizations who are working
very, very hard to ensure that they'reprotecting not only the health of
(01:49):
the planet, but also your health.
Especially in this case.
We have Kristi Levitt from Oceanawho's a campaigner that works on
foam styrofoam containers and whythey need to go, why there needs to
be a ban on this type of plastic.
And we talk about the effects onthe health of animals, the health
of the environment, as well as.
(02:09):
Our own health.
So lots of things to do and atthe end there's a great call to
action where you can help out.
And if you wanna help out more and learnmore about how you can be guided to help
the ocean and live for a better ocean, Iwould love for you to join the undertow.
It's an ocean communitythat we are creating online.
Myself and two of my amazing co-founders,and we are building this community.
(02:30):
With Wave Makers, individuals who aredriving for ocean change, and we are
gonna help you better protect the ocean.
All you have to do is go to speak upfor blue.com/join the undertow to join.
That's speak up forblue.com/join the undertow.
It's on a wait list right now.
We're building the app out.
It should come very, very soon.
Within the next month or so, I'mvery excited to release this.
(02:53):
You'll get access to me.
You'll get access to my co-founder,Serena and Amanda, and a
bunch of Wave makers as well.
It's gonna be a lot of fun.
I can't wait for you to do that.
No algorithms, no regularsocial media sites.
This is just a community appfor Ocean Lovers like yourself.
Speak up for blue.com/join the undertow.
Let's get into the episode.
Here's my interview withKristi Levitt from Oceana.
(03:15):
Talking about the campaign to banplastic foam so that we don't have
to deal with the consequences inour environment and in our bodies.
Enjoy the interview andI'll talk to you after.
Hey Christie, welcome to the Howto Protect the Ocean Podcast.
Are you ready to talk aboutstyrofoam in the ocean?
I am.
And it's a pleasure to be here.
Oh, it's so, I'm so happy tohave you on, uh, Christie.
(03:38):
I know this is the first time we'veactually met, but to have someone from
Oceania on the podcast is such a delight.
We've had people on fromOceania Canada before.
Uh, I've had people on fromOceana, but it's been a while and
there's just so much fun to have.
'cause I know the amazing workthat you guys do, and you guys do
such a, a plethora of work, such awide variety of work, not only in
fisheries, but in plastic pollution.
(03:59):
And it's so important to discuss.
And I'm, I'm really delightedthat you're here to, that we're
gonna be able to discuss that.
We're gonna be focusing on plasticfoam today, like styrofoam and really
focusing in on those styrofoam containersthat take out containers and stuff that
we get, that we don't even realize.
And I think a lot of us in, in, whenwe go through our everyday life, we
don't question it because just, youknow, we take takeout everybody.
(04:19):
Mm-hmm.
We're all on the, on the move andwe're going quickly and we get
these, this takeout and we get,it's the container that it comes in.
And, you know, you try and tell people,Hey, why are you using plastic foam?
But sometimes they're like,that's what we can afford.
That's the way we do things.
Um, and so that happens.
And so it, it, it's, it's toughto like really think about what
we can do to make it better.
So we're gonna talk about the newreport that Oceania released called
(04:42):
Plastic Foam, how it needs to Go.
And, uh, I want to get into sortof the nitty gritty about it all.
But before we do Christy, I wanna getto know you a little bit and my audience
to get to know you a little bit.
So why don't you let us knowwho you are and what you do.
Great.
Well, it is such a pleasure to be here.
Um, so I'm Christy Levitt.
I, um, work with Oceania in the us.
I am our US Plastics campaign director.
(05:04):
And so what that means is I runour campaigns here in the US
to stop the production use ofunnecessary single use plastics.
And my background is that I'vebeen working on environmental
issues for a couple of decades now.
Mm-hmm.
Working on a whole varietyof issues, including.
Oceans protections, but also cleanair, clean water, protecting open
(05:26):
spaces, working on climate issues,and all of that focused on either
state or national level policies.
Mm-hmm.
And had lots of goodwins, um, along the way.
And, you know, some, some losses too asit as it happens, but overall, you know,
working to make progress so that our airis cleaner, our waters are cleaner, and
(05:47):
our, you know, we're everything's betterfor our health and the environment.
And started at Oceana about sixyears ago, um, when we launched the
plastics campaign here in the us.
So have been here almost from thebeginning and a few staff working on it.
When we, um, first started working onplastics, but launched the campaign,
uh, in the US and we've worked notonly on national level policy, which
(06:11):
is really oceania's focus, but alsostate and local policies to reduce the
production use of single use plastics.
Wow, awesome.
I mean, it's such a big undertakingwhen you think about it.
Uh, you know, it doesn't matter whothe government is, obviously sometimes
it's a little harder than others, uh,depending on the government, of course.
Uh, but in your background, in termsof like getting here, working on
(06:34):
campaigns, when you first started inthe field of of Oceans, did you ever
think that this is what you were gonnabe doing is working on campaigns?
'cause like when I first started,I didn't even know this was a job.
You know, when I first started,like was like a campaign director
or you know, someone who works oncampaigns, it's obviously a very
important aspect of it, but did youexpect to work in this line of work?
(06:58):
Well, actually I came about atthe other way where really when I
graduated from college, what I wantedto do was to work on campaigns.
Oh, interesting.
I didn't know how to do that.
Yeah.
Uh, so, um, and I was really, look, I wasreally, I was into environmental issues.
Mm-hmm.
I was, I went to college in Los Angeles.
I was into impacts on the, um, you know,pollution impacts on the, on people
(07:20):
and the environment and the coast.
And so I was most interestedin continuing to live in Los
Angeles and make change there.
But I knew I needed to learnhow to, how to do that.
So, um, right.
I worked for.
An organization called the StudentPergs for a good number of years.
I learned those skills about doingorganizing work and learning how
to, um, make change on policy.
(07:43):
And that was state level policyand national level policy.
So really what I, you know, I wantedto learn how to do was to make,
make, make that change that makes abig impact in organizing the public.
So not only getting the policy right andthe facts right, but organizing the public
to get them engaged in the process too.
And so I was pretty open aboutenvironmental issues that I worked
(08:06):
on, and as I was saying, you know,over the years worked on everything
from climate to protecting forestto ocean issues and still really
excited about all of those issues.
Mm-hmm.
Um, and have always come at itfrom a organizing and public
policy change end of it.
And then there was a. Opportunity withOceania to work on plastics and oceans.
(08:28):
And you know, the same questionof did I ever think I'd
work on plastics and oceans?
No.
No.
I think, you know, 20 years agowe didn't really know the extent
of the problem of plastics.
Mm-hmm.
And it's, we've been learning a lot.
Um, and it, you know, it includes so manydifferent things from oceans to protecting
(08:49):
the animals and the oceans and the harmthat, that caused, the impacts on people
to, the impacts on our, on climate.
Yeah.
So all of that comestogether with plastics.
But I definitely did not think,you know, a couple decades ago that
I would be work working on this.
But I'm really excitedto be here doing it.
Yeah.
And, and to be honest, Isee a lot more, uh, posts.
I've actually curated my LinkedInpage to be all job posts.
(09:12):
'cause I shared job posts forlike, the careers for people and.
I noticed there's a lot of jobs,especially with Oceania, but, but even
just with a lot of, uh, uh, organizationssimilar to Oceania, whether it's
in forestry or whether it's in, inagriculture or it doesn't matter, right?
There's a lot of campaign directors orsomebody like a marine campaign or, or,
(09:34):
uh, plastics campaign or things like that.
I see those jobs come up quite a bit,you know, as someone like, I went to
school for science, a lot of people thatI, that listen to this podcast go to
school for science or marine science.
Marine biology, like what suitedyou for this job and what skills
really suit people for thistype of, of campaigns type job?
(09:54):
Like leading campaigns or,or taking part in campaigns?
Yeah, that's a really good question.
I think one of the great things aboutdoing campaign work is that people
come from all different backgrounds.
So whether you, you went through.
Not only college, but then got a mm-hmm.
Advanced degree in a particular science.
Mm-hmm.
You, you didn't, or even if you wentto, to law school or you know, some
(10:17):
you have a degree in something else.
All of that ultimately can lead you todoing this type of type of campaign work.
And you'll do it in slightlydifferent ways based on your.
Expertise and experience.
Mm-hmm.
But it's definitely, you know, aset of skills that you can learn
and I learned it by doing it.
So I learned how to do things likeread policy, to run a press conference,
(10:41):
to organize a coalition of, or otherorganizations to go and meet with your
local elected officials or your, here inthe US members of Congress or, mm-hmm.
You know, your state legislators, allof that are ultimately quite learnable
skills regardless of your background.
It's, I think the biggest thingis an interest in doing that and
(11:02):
in making change through policy.
And one of the great things aboutOceania is that we have people who
have all of those different expertise.
So my expertise might be in, inrunning the campaign, but I work
with a whole bunch of staff witha variety of different skills.
So we start, you know, as with manyPE organizations, what we definitely
really focus on starting with the facts.
(11:24):
So we wanna make sure we'vegot the science on our side.
So we've got a scientist whoworks, um, specifically on plastic.
Issues.
We've got policy staff who spend theirdays up talking to members of Congress
and their staff and the administration.
We've got lawyers on staff.
We also have our field representativeswho are based in states around
(11:45):
the us, particularly coastalstates, who are building up that
political support on the ground.
Hmm.
Just getting regular ordinary peopleengaged in our campaign efforts.
Plus then people who have somepower locally who might be able to
influence what, what Congress is doing.
Right.
And it's really that for Oceania,that mix of the science, the policy,
the legal aspects, the grassrootssupport, and then being able to
(12:08):
communicate that to the public.
So, uh, I think one of the really mostimportant skills to learn along the
way and to be able to do this type ofwork effectively is to take what are
sometimes really complicated scientific.
Issues and problems or evensolutions and be able to Right.
Explain that to regular people who arenot spending their days looking at what's
(12:30):
happening on to the oceans or what's,what's happening to the air or what's
happening to the animals and wildlife.
Yeah.
So being able to really break that downto people and I'm sure in your role Sure.
You, you do that a lot.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, it, it is so funny too,'cause sometimes, uh, when
you don't think of a job.
Like a particular job.
Say you go through school and you'renot thinking about working on campaigns.
(12:52):
Of course, as we mentioned before,it's difficult to figure out
like, what do I need to do this?
This sounds like a really goodopportunity and a really good way to get
into conservation is to work on thesecampaigns and really make a change and
really make a difference on policy.
You know, building up those relationshipswith, with government representatives
at different levels and and so forth.
And there's so many, even withinlike the campaign sort of.
(13:14):
Avenue, uh, and, and,and career sort of path.
There are different levels withinit from interns and all the way to
like, sort of like a junior campaignerand then a senior, and then you said
the field representatives as well.
Um, and everybody seemsto enjoy their jobs.
Like, you know, I've, I know peoplewho have worked in the field in, in
campaigning at, for Oceania in particular,and they've been in doing it for like
(13:36):
nine or 10 years, and they absolutelylove it, you know, and they get out into
the field and they're talking to peopleand they're going out on boats and like
doing all these photo ops and stuff.
And I think it's really great.
You know, Greenpeace is also, you know,an organization that's known to do
campaigning and, and they're a little bitmore, uh, activism and, and, and stuff.
But it's, it's just a different way of,of looking at it that you've mentioned
you've worked in a lot of different,um, almost realms, let's just say.
(14:01):
So the marine, the forestry,uh, what drives you.
To choose, uh, the, the path thatyou've taken, like to choose the
type of campaigns that you work on.
What has been that driving factor for you?
Because I've talked to scientistswhere they're just like, they,
like they're the researchers.
They're driven by specific questions.
So it doesn't necessarily have to bethat the topic is a certain animal.
(14:24):
It's more of like, what is thatecological function that drives this
animal to do a particular behavior orparticular ecological, um, motion or
function compared to another animalthat does the same thing for you?
What is that driver to choose thecampaigns that you wanna work on or
to apply for a job to work on thecampaigns that you want to work on?
Right.
(14:44):
I'm sure that has changed over, over time.
So I, right.
You know, when I'm firststarting, I grew up in California.
I right.
Didn't live on the coast,but live near the coast.
I, the mountains are amazing.
Mm-hmm.
The parks are amazing.
So there's definitely, you know,a connection to, to nature and
a variety of types of nature.
(15:04):
That was a, a strong interest.
And I think, you know, Istill definitely have that.
I live in a city, but I love goingout to explore our national parks.
I love going to the coast.
I love looking, you know, um, goingto all sorts of, all sorts of places.
Yeah.
So I think, you know that,so connection to nature.
Mm-hmm.
I also think, um, over time we've foundmore and more problems, so that's true.
(15:31):
When I was in school, climatechange was not a huge problem.
That we talked about a lot.
Mm-hmm.
But it is now.
And so I think, but so climateis a big driver for me overall.
We, and plasticsdefinitely plays into that.
The oceans are being impacted by that.
Mm-hmm.
So that is one of the big things.
(15:51):
But I think sort of at the, at thecore of it, I've got two kids who
are, they're no longer little kids.
They're, they're medium sizedkids now, but they, um, you know,
I want them to live in a, yeah.
In a world that there is cleanair, clean water, that there are
the oceans, that the oceans arefilled with all sorts of wildlife.
(16:12):
That there's people who can sustain their.
Um, their livelihoods by relying onthe oceans that all of that exists,
not just for the next five to 10years, but it is for decades and
decades from now, if not centuries.
I want, you know, I want my kids togrow up in a, and have a world where
there is clean air, clean water, oceans.
(16:33):
I want their kids tobe able to do that, so.
Mm-hmm.
I think, you know, as a parent, that'sa big driver, but I also, also, beyond
me, I wanna make sure that otherpeople's kids can do that, that too.
So that it's, you know, I, I look at mykids and what I want them to be able to
do, but I also want people around the,around the country, around the world to be
(16:53):
able to have that, those same things too.
Clean air, clean water.
Yeah.
Open spaces.
Yeah.
Oceans, all of that.
Well, and we know how much it plays arole in our health, overall health, not
only physical, but mental health as well.
I mean, Jane Nichols, I always mention himand probably every episode that I can with
his Blue Mind book, uh, you know, and,and, and the fact that it's just, it's.
(17:15):
It helps us to have theocean in, in good health.
You know, just in general, just if wecan keep that in good health, keep our
planet in good shape, then we can do it.
And, and, you know, some of the stuffthat you campaign for to unite like
basic needs, it's just like we're justasking for, you know, pretty much like,
let's just keep the, the environment ashealthy as possible and, and let's like
not have as much negative influence onit to, but it's such a big thing to do.
(17:40):
You know, the campaigns, there's reasonwhy there are campaigns that we do,
uh, that you participate in to get,you know, these PLAs like foam, uh, and
styrofoam out of circulation becausethey could be bad for our, our plan
and they can be bad for our health.
So I think it's, I thinkit's really interesting.
I, I love the, the driver for that.
I think it's, I think it's really coolto know, obviously it, it evolves, right?
(18:00):
I was, I was, I was kind of, Iwas expecting that it evolves
as you go through and certainthings interest you and as.
Your kids grow up and youstart to see the effect.
You know, like I have, I haveteenage, two teenage daughters,
one going into university nextyear for wildlife and conservation.
So I'm like very excited about that.
Very cool.
Not marine biology, but nobody's perfect.
It's, it's fine.
(18:20):
It's fine.
But it's, it's, it's kind of coolto see and you know, we, we discuss
a lot of the, some of the issues.
It's just like, I don'tunderstand why this is an issue.
Like, this seems to be just basic,but it is, you know, and then we have
to, we have to make a case for it andwe have to campaign on these things.
Um, so I, I think that's,that's really cool.
Let's get into the plastics.
'cause this is what we'rehere for in the styrofoam.
(18:40):
There is a report, uh, that,that Oceania put out, uh,
called plastic foam needs to go.
Uh, it's a really well writtenreport, very easy to read for, for
anybody who wants to pick it up.
And I'll put the link in, uh,in the show notes so that people
can, can get access to it.
What, speaking of drivers, what wasthe driver to write this report?
(19:00):
Well.
So as overall Ocean is working to reducethe production in use of single use
plastics and we're taking a step back,we're doing that because single use
plastics and packaging makes up about40% of all the plastic made each year.
So that's, that's a lot.
And a lot of that 40% is unnecessary.
(19:21):
Mm-hmm.
And so if we can make an impacton that, it's gonna protect our,
ultimately protect our oceans.
'cause we're making less of itand less of it's gonna end up at
the ocean, but it's also gonnahave lots of other benefits too.
Mm-hmm.
In terms of climate issues, in terms ofother clean air and clean water issues.
So that's our starting point is taking,taking that piece of the pie, I guess
(19:42):
it'd be this piece of the pie that way.
Um, so dealing with that, thatpart of it, there are some really
problematic single use plastics andum, plastic foam is one of those.
So plastic foam, it's formallycalled expanded fall, sorry, it's
former called Expanded Polystyrene.
And it's.
As you started the show, it'soften referred to as styrofoam.
(20:04):
Right.
And it is something that thereare good alternatives to.
Now.
There is no reason why we shouldbe relying on this product.
That is, it pollutes our environment.
It creates problems for the ocean,it creates problems for people.
And we can get into all of that,but it's really one of the most
problematic plastics, but theresimply is not a need for it.
(20:26):
Right.
Um, and so we wanted to do this reportto help educate people and show people
that plastic foam is hazardous to,hazardous to our oceans and our health.
Mm-hmm.
So it, it's really, it's alwaysinteresting when we find out that
something that we've been using ingeneral supply, you know, and in
like everyday life, like I mentionedat the beginning of the show, is
(20:49):
bad for us and bad for the planet.
Yet we never questioned it.
We just said, this is, you know,I'm gonna order my food, or I'm at a
restaurant and I want to take it home,so I want to, you know, go home with it.
Oh, here, here's a,here's a container for it.
Okay, cool.
I'm not gonna, you know,even question it, put it in a
container and I'm gonna go home.
(21:10):
Why is it that styrofoam wasthe choice that was made in the
first place To be that material?
To go into this mass productionand be used by, you know, millions
of people around the world?
Billions.
Really?
Yeah.
I don't know if it was.
A conscious or purposeful choice forparticularly this type of plastic.
(21:33):
There are a couple of thingsfor why plastic, foam and
other single use plastics.
They, they, they have increasedthe use exponentially of this.
These products have,let me say that again.
These products Yeah.
Have increased exponentiallyover the last 20 years.
Right.
So over half of the plasticmade has been since 2004.
(21:55):
So there's been this huge growth and alot of that is about moving from reusable
products to a lot of single use products.
And plastic foam is.
Pretty cheap.
Um mm-hmm.
It's pretty cheap to make and itis, that clearly does not include
all of the environmental and healthimpacts built into that cost.
And it's, um, it'slightweight, so easy to ship.
(22:18):
Mm-hmm.
So I think those are the sum ofthings, but make it, have made
it part of just common usage.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, and it is used as you'resaying, for everything from takeout
containers to taco cups, to soda cups.
Um, foam coolers is one of the other uses.
And yeah.
Pack what we in the US callpacking peanuts, but other Yes.
Packaging, um, or packpacking peanuts in Canada too.
(22:42):
Um, it's pretty much the same.
Yeah.
So it is.
So, you know, it does.
Have its uses, but allthe problems with it.
Mm-hmm.
Both on the production side and thetoxic chemicals that come out of our
use of it that then is an impact on us.
And then its disposal areall totally problematic.
And one of those, some of those thingsthat might make it useful for somebody,
(23:05):
um, you know, to sell the productare some of the problems with it.
So it's really lightweight.
Mm-hmm.
It also is brittle, so when itis breaks apart, it makes it, you
know, breaks up into tiny pieces.
Yeah.
That can be carried really farin both the wind and the water.
So it, it has become one ofthe most common forms of marine
plastic pollution as well aspollution in lakes and rivers too.
(23:29):
And so that big expansion of its usehas created lots of problems too.
Well, and if, and if you've everhandled anything that's styrofoam
related, God forbid it breaks or youtry and like break it down, it, it
seems like it's a product just made ofthese tiny, tiny balls of styrofoam.
And so when it breaks, thesethings go everywhere and
(23:52):
they're very difficult to clean.
If you think about it, right?
Like, I'm thinking of like, inmy mind right now, I'm thinking
of like a styrofoam cooler.
If that breaks or getscrushed by something, uh, it
it, it just goes everywhere.
And it's really difficult totake up every little piece.
It's not like big chunksor, or things like that.
So think of like, when I think about that,I think about that happening at a beach.
If somebody takes a cooler to abeach, you know, it say, even if it
(24:16):
a piece like chips off, you know,and they're like, oh, no big deal.
You try and pick up as much as possible,but you still get these little beads that
are in the sand that eventually travels.
They're lightweight.
If they're not buried in the sand,they can go into the ocean or they can
go into the dunes if you're throughdunes in the back, and animals will
eventually try and pick 'em up.
You know, it's, they think,oh, maybe it's a bird.
Maybe it's a sea turtle, youknow, as they're trying to get
(24:38):
some food or something like that.
If it's floating, they might just.
Experiment and try and get it in there.
And we don't think about that whenit happens because I'll have it
in my driveway and it'll break,and I'm like, oh, like I gotta
go and pick it all up and stuff.
And who's gonna take it?
Like, what's gonna be affected by this?
It's on my own property.
It's not gonna affect anythingbut it birds pick it up.
I've seen birds pick it up.
(24:58):
I've seen squirrels pick it up, youknow, animals pick this, this stuff up.
It's harmful for these animals.
It'll eventually kill themor, or harm their health.
And, and, and I think wedon't think about that.
We just think, oh, it's a cooler.
I can grab it, bring it to thebeach, or bring it to wherever on a
picnic, and then I'll just throw itout because I don't want to keep it.
It's, it's very much in ourconvenience, you know, for this type
(25:20):
of, of work, even though there areso many other products available now.
I think it, I feel like it's almost,you know, sometimes I, I, I still, I
still wonder why we have this problembecause there are so many alternatives
available for restaurants as well asfor consumers, individual consumers.
So.
And, and this is this in yourreport, it's like, why is it so
(25:41):
hard to get it out of production?
Why is it so difficult?
It is primarily, it's a plastic producer,so there is a. They make this product,
they wanna keep selling the product.
Um, and it is, for all thereasons you said, totally
problematic and harmful to animals.
(26:01):
We can could talk about somespecific am uh, examples, if
that's, that's helpful too.
But the main reason we still haveit is that the companies that
produce it wanna keep producing it.
Hmm.
And they wanna keep it,keep it on the market.
Um, there's countries around the worldand I think Canada too has mm-hmm.
A plan and a law Yes.
To phase out single use plastic foam.
(26:24):
In the US we don't have a law like thaton the national level yet, but we do
have state, state laws and cities andcounties are, are working to phase it out.
It really should be that the companiesthat use and sell and distribute
this, that they're doing it thereon their own and they're, yeah.
Stop using it and using it asthe, the coffee cup or the takeout
(26:44):
container or the packing peanuts, butthey're not doing that in all cases.
And so these governmentpolicies are really important.
To make, make change on theissue and to, to move it on out.
Um, so that's what, if the companiesaren't doing themselves, governments
really need to, to step in andmake a difference, to force it.
'cause it is such a problem for the,whether it's the, you know, sea turtles
(27:06):
who are eating it, or birds that arepicking it up like you are describing,
or they're see it floating on theocean and they think it looks like,
um, little fish eggs, they eat it.
Mm-hmm.
That way too.
So it's, it's really problematicfor ocean, ocean animals.
I never thought of the fishegg scenario, but yeah.
That, that, that makes complete sense.
Um, obviously there's an environmentalimpact to it with, with birds, with
(27:30):
fish, with sea turtles, uh, likeany animal really that wants to
pick this up wherever it can find.
Um, but it also affects humans as well.
Like these, these thingsget into our system.
Um.
How does it get into ours?
Like, how does it affect us?
Because some people arelike, I'm not gonna eat it.
Like, why would I?
(27:50):
Mm-hmm.
Why would I get it into my system?
Like what I, what, what contributes tolike the, the, the, the, um, I guess bad
health, for lack of better terminology.
Yeah.
Well, it is, I, I remember as a kidhaving like a foam cup and you Yeah.
You start playing with itand you break it apart.
Yeah.
And I'm sure there's kids around the.
(28:11):
Around me and around the world whoare, you know, have eaten foam.
But even, even if you're at the pointin your life where you're not gonna eat
that, yeah, that foam cup, plastic foamis made from a product called styrene.
Um, and styrene is toxic tothe human nervous system.
It's also a probable carcinogen,which, what that means is it probably
causes cancer in people and it easilyleeches into food and beverages.
(28:36):
So it comes outta that plasticfoam cup or your, um, clamshell
container that's holding your takeout.
That chemical can leach outand, um, into, into you.
And one of the things aboutstyrene is that it leeches out at.
Even more at high temperatures.
So to think of that hot cupof coffee in a foam cup, yeah.
(28:59):
That's even more problematic.
'cause that heat is leading tomore of that sty chemical being
leached into the, into the coffee.
So it is quite ridiculous that whenwe, you know, are drinking a drink
from a foam cup or we're eatingsomething from a takeout container,
we could be risking our health.
And in the US, the AmericanAcademy of Pediatrics recommends
(29:22):
parents avoid polystyreneplastic, which is a plastic foam.
It's a type of polystyrene.
Mm-hmm.
So we've got, you know,it's a probable carcinogen.
It's leeches into our food and drink.
And it also, p pediatriciansare saying, don't, don't give
this product to your children.
Right.
And all of that together seemslike just something that we should.
(29:45):
Say no.
Yeah, we don't want this.
And then the other way that it canget into our body too, is we were
talking about it breaks up, um, intothose smaller and smaller pieces.
Ultimately they become microplastics.
Mm-hmm.
Um, or nanoplastics.
And they, they, and other types ofpolystyrene particles, they've been
found in many parts of the humanbody, including in our brains, lungs,
(30:10):
kidneys, blood and reproductive systems.
So it is being found inall parts of the, the body.
Now we know a lot aboutthe chemicals like styrene.
Mm-hmm.
You know, there are a lot ofchemicals in plastic that.
The producers haven't sharedwhat those chemicals are.
So there's the chemicals are onepart of the problem and we have
(30:31):
some more information about thatand we know it's problematic.
And then the other part are the tinybits of plastic are ending up in people.
And we don't know all the impacts of that.
It's a newer area where science isreally digging in there, but it seems
problematic to have little particles ofplastic throughout our bodies, whether
(30:52):
that's in our brains or reproductivesystems or, uh, in our hearts.
And if you think about going back tochemicals, leaching out into coffee
cup, if it's heated or, or warmed inany kind of way, you think about those
particles, those plastic particlesthat are binding to molecules in our
body, whether they be air molecules,whether they be blood molecules,
(31:15):
those are leaching into our body.
And if you, if you extrapolate and you,we look at marine mammals who have had.
Arsenic and other types of, of harmfulmetals in their, in their lipid, in their
fats because of ingestion of plastics, avariety of plastics, not just styrofoam.
And we see the effect thatit has on their health.
(31:36):
I think we can, because weare, you know, fairly closely
related, we're both mammals.
We can almost extrapolate and say,Hey, that this could happen to us.
It could, it could degrade our system,our, our health, like our body as
we go through and as we get older.
And if we're certain of us, some of usare more vulnerable than others, depending
on what other conditions that we have.
And it's just, it'd be easy if itjust didn't get into our system, if
(31:58):
it wasn't in our supply chain and,and it, and it wasn't anything.
So That's great.
And you did, you did mention that.
That's exactly right.
Yeah.
You did mention in Canada, wedo have a, a policy, I believe.
I'm not sure where it's at right now.
I have to, uh, I have to, uh.
Touch base with Anthony right now, becauselast time I spoke, um, there were a
number of, of chemical companies as wellas fossil fuel companies who were suing
(32:19):
the government, uh, for aspects of, uh,the, the, the aspect of, um, why this
legislation went in, which is basicallythat that plastic is toxic to people,
is what they put in the legislation.
And so all, there's a number ofdifferent actions that came out.
One of those was to ban, I think itwas six specific single use plastics.
Styrofoam was one of those, um, plastics.
(32:42):
And, and then there's, there's stuff tocome, a register, a registry of plastics,
a tracking of plastics and, and so forth.
And I think they were, even though they,they didn't mind certain of those, those
single use plastics being done, as Anthonymentioned from, from Ocean, ocean Canada.
That's why I mentioning him.
He said that, you know,they just don't want.
Have to worry about anything in the futurethat could impede on their business.
(33:03):
So it's a business decision, a lot ofthis stuff of why it's being kept in.
Now, the interesting thing that, thatgets me, and, and obviously I know like
if you go to the government and yousay, let's put in legislation to ban
these products so that they can't put'em into the system, which, like in
Canada, I've seen firsthand, like it'sbeen in, it's, I think it's been in
since like 2022 or 2023, and it's phasedin for certain, for certain products.
(33:27):
Yeah.
But I've anecdotally, I've seen itin our restaurants, especially where
the takeout containers are now morelike this, this corrugated, um, uh,
like, like, um, paper basically.
It's like, it's, it's almost like, um,like what boxes are made of essentially
is, is what it is, but lighter, supposedto be better recycled, like better
(33:49):
compostable and stuff, and which is nice.
Which is nice to see like that, that wesee that I, I actually will only go to.
To take out places thatactually have that.
So I won't go anywhere elsebecause that's my choice.
Like I'm, that's how I'm gonna choose.
So I understand that going forgovernment, it probably works
it faster into the system.
Um, but going to businesses andsaying, Hey, look, here are some of
(34:10):
the alternatives, here are the prices.
If like, if somebody went into like,like a business, like a restaurant,
say a takeout restaurant, say, hereare some of the alternatives, like
what would it take for you to switch?
Like, has, has O Ocean Nna done anyof those surveys with businesses and
said, what would it take for you toswitch over to something that's better
for the health of your customers, butalso same, same price point or similar
(34:31):
price point and you know it's gonna bebetter for you and, and your customers.
Have you ever, has Oceania ever workedat that level with businesses or had
partners that did the same thing?
Yeah, we, at Oceania,we haven't done that.
We, okay, so going businessto business, a couple.
Some coalition partners have beenmore engaged in that and some
(34:52):
of the things that we do know.
So ultimately the best solutionis moving to a reusable or
refillable product, right?
So there are some companies in theUS and if not yet soon, in Canada
hopefully, that are doing reusabletakeout containers, correct.
Where you can order your takeout,whether it gets delivered to you or
(35:13):
you're picking it up and it's gonnacome in at a container that then you
either give back to that deliveryperson or you can drop it off back
at the restaurant where you got it.
Or some places have other drop offlocations, it then gets washed and
cleaned and returned for the, toa restaurant for, for use again.
So yeah, systems like that are the best.
(35:33):
Yes.
Um, and then it, where that's notpossible or doesn't exist yet.
Something with that is a non-toxic.
Uh, alternative is even better.
Which it sounds likeyou found some places.
Yeah, yeah.
Places like that.
And there are, um, some coalitionpartners in the US who have looked, or
some other entities in the US who havelooked into it and found that switching
(35:58):
to reuse does ultimately you'll makeyour money back in the long term.
So there's some upfront investmentsfor things like if you, your business
doesn't have a dishwasher, yeah,you'll need to invest in that, but
over several years you can, um,break even and even go beyond that.
So there are some folkswho are working on that.
(36:18):
It's not something that we're workingon, on the business to business level.
We're really focused onthat, that government policy.
But the, um, some policies that couldhelp in that would be having some grants
that could then go to support thischange over to, to reuse is another.
I love that.
That another thing that could help out.
(36:39):
Yeah, that's a perfect, perfectanswer because that's, I mean, it,
it would take a lot of buildingrelationships with businesses and
obviously that takes a long time.
Uh, plus there's so many businesses outthere that use these types of containers,
uh, that it would be difficult to goto each and every one and say, Hey,
like, this is what we need to do.
Um, so now, you know, we, we,this, this type of knowledge is not
(37:02):
necessarily new to a lot of people.
Like to some, uh, businesses, somemanufacturers, even governments have
known that, you know, styrofoam hasbeen a problem for, for quite some time.
Are there any efforts, like policyefforts currently underway to, to
change the law e either at local,state, or, or federal levels In the US.
(37:26):
Yes.
At all of those, at all of thoselevels, there are policies.
So the, in the US states and citiesare doing a lot more than we've
done on the national level, right?
There's 12 states that have passed lawsthat are statewide laws that reduce
single use plastic foam products.
Some of those are food wear specific,some cover food wear and packing
(37:46):
peanuts and the disposable foam coolers.
Uh, we saw more that were introducedon the state level this year
during legislative sessions.
Some of those legislativesessions are still still going on.
And we also got a bill that'sbeen introduced in Congress
called the Farewell to Foam Act.
And what it would do would beto phase out plastic foam food
(38:07):
ware, packing peanuts, and.
Disposable cooler foam coolersaround the, around the country.
And so that's been introduced inCongress, um, and it's gaining support
and we're, we are spending time workingon that as well as supporting state
laws, um, and local policies too.
So just last week, um, the cityof Boston talked about inter uh,
(38:32):
passing a bill that would phase outplastic foam there too in food wear.
That's awesome.
So we're, we're seeing all of this, anational law would be best 'cause it would
cover, cover the whole country, but all ofthese pieces definitely, definitely help.
Yeah.
Well, and, and that's, that's alwaysgreat and, and like obviously state
and local levels are probably better totarget these days than, than any other.
(38:57):
Um, but even before this newadministration came in, were there
any, uh, leaps in strides with the lastadministration that was in, in the US on.
Because they seem to have obviouslymore of climate friendly policies and
so forth, was was styrofoam part oftheir agenda to clean up or to address?
(39:20):
It.
Uh, so this bill had been introducedin the previous session of Congress.
It didn't, it didn't pass, butthere's Congress is on one side and
then there's the administration.
The right Biden administration didseveral policies that were, were good
policies to phase out, not only plasticfoam, but other single use plastics.
And one of the first ones that they didwas in 2022, where the, um, secretary
(39:44):
of the interior put in place a policyto phase out single use plastics in our
national parks and other public lands thatare overseen by the Interior department.
It was on a pretty long timeline,so it was a 10 year timeline.
Um, unfortunately that has now beenoverturned by the current Secretary
of the Chin area interior, but that.
Covered the previous policy, coveredplastic foam, um, as well as other
(40:09):
single use plastics and parks.
Were starting to work, work on that.
Now, that's a, a small but veryvisible part of the federal government.
People in the US as I know thisis true in Canada to Canada
too, love our national parks.
Yeah.
Um, and we have visitorsfrom, from around the world.
So phasing out single use plasticin such iconic places makes a, makes
(40:30):
a big impact and people mm-hmm.
See that the other thing that theBiden administration did was put in
place a policy to phase out single useplastics across the federal government.
Um, and that was also had a, you know,multi-year timeline, but a set of things
that they wanted to do by, by 2027.
Okay.
They just put that policyin place last summer.
(40:52):
So there wasn't significantprogress made on it by the time
that their administration ended.
Mm-hmm.
But it was, um.
You think of like, oh, the federalgovernment doing something that might
not be big, but the US governmentis the largest purchaser of goods
and services in the entire world.
So if they make a change on theirpurchasing and stop purchasing
(41:13):
single use plastics and move to otherreusable and refillable products
or other non-toxic products, that'sgonna make a big, a big impact.
So we were really excitedabout that policy.
That has been put in place.
Um, it is not moving forwardat this point in time.
Right.
But we're hopeful to see thingslike that again down the road.
(41:34):
Um, but in the meantime, buildingsupport in Congress and also working on
the, on state and local policies too.
Because one of the cool things aboutthis all is that we know even from some
examples in the US when a city or astate puts in place a policy to phase out
plastic foam, it has, it makes an impact.
(41:55):
Um, and this is not all placeshave data that shows mm-hmm.
What the pollution was likein a river or in a bay mm-hmm.
Ahead of time.
But for example, up in Maryland,which is, I'm in Washington,
DC it's just north in DC Yeah.
They, um, saw in Maryland's.
In our harbor in Baltimore, they sent80% reduction in the plastic foam
(42:16):
that was collected by a big trashinterceptor called Mr. Trash Wheel.
After their statewide food ban went intofoam food wear, ban went into effect.
I love Mr. Trash Wheel, by the way.
You Oh, Mr. Trash.
Oh, good.
Yeah, I, I'm a fan ofMr. Trash Wheel as well.
Anything with googly eyes is fun.
(42:36):
Exactly.
We, we don't have that in, we don't haveMr. Trash Wheel in dc but we, um, here
in DC the city put in place a singleuse plastic foam ban about 10 years
ago, and in the first year, there aretrash traps along the, the Anacostia
River, which runs through the city.
There was a 50% reduction in plastic foamat the end of the first year, and then
(42:58):
after five years, that pollution fell 88%.
So it's here when a, like a city or astate puts in place these policies, you
can see big reductions in the amount of.
Foam that is collected by these,you know, these trash collectors.
Yep.
Um, and it's not just because peopleare being more careful with it.
They're just not using as much of it.
(43:20):
'cause there's been, it's been phased out.
So if we can get that across thecountry, it can make a, a big impact.
And as your law gets implementedin Canada, that also mm-hmm.
Can make an a big impact.
Um, good news from Canada.
You know, not only is it aboutthe plastic foam, but it deals
with other single use plastics.
Yeah.
For plastics too, for sure.
(43:40):
Um, and Anthony candefinitely give you an update.
I think it's still, it's still,I think there's still court cases
still moves forward and thenthere's still court cases too.
Yeah, I think now.
I think, I think they, I think thegovernment won the appeal, I think.
'cause now it's going,still going back to court.
Last time I checked Ithink is, is what it was.
So, but it is, the law is still in place.
That's what, that's what the,the, the beautiful part is.
Yeah.
(44:00):
Um, now let's talk about campaigns.
Um, you know, during like at,especially at the federal level these
days, uh, it's obviously harder.
You know, we're not, we won'tgo into detail about that 'cause
we don't need to go into detail.
Um, from, from the point of view ofsomeone who campaigns and, and you
know, from Oceana who has, well,I would say a lot of, of, of, uh.
(44:23):
Clout, you know, in terms of bringingfactual information, bringing concerns
that people have, like their, yourconstituents have on, you know,
plastic pollution and styrofoam.
When you go up against, uh, anadministration like this, and not just
the actual president administration, butwhen you have, you know, congress of,
of one party, that may not make a lot,uh, or may not be known these days as
(44:48):
environmental policy makers, even thoughback in the seventies they were the ones
who put in like some of the most, youknow, wonderful, uh, policies, you know,
like the Magnuson Stevens Act, the MarineMammal Protection Act, and so forth.
Um, from your perspective, how doyou approach the change of, of, of
a, a. Of an administration from thedifferent executive levels, you know,
(45:14):
from, from the, the congress, fromsenate to, to, to the, the president,
uh, even, even the Supreme Courtwhere, where court cases sometimes
are used to, to get things changed.
How does Oceano approach this?
And you've specifically approachan, uh, a, an administration that
may not be as, as responsive tothese types of, of campaigns?
(45:37):
Yeah, that's a good, a good question.
The, the starting point for meis that in the good news, within.
Things that are more, morechallenging is that the public
really cares about this issue.
Mm-hmm.
And that's for plastic and that'salso for other, other ocean issues.
I obviously know more on the, onthe plastic sides, but as we've done
pooling year after year, there's strongsupport across the political spectrum.
(46:03):
Mm-hmm.
And on plastics in particular, justtaking the foam piece of that, we did a.
We released a poll, um, that earlierthis year that found 78% of registered US
voters support policies on the nationallevel to reduce single use plastic foam.
And so that's not only democraticsupport, it's also Republican support,
(46:24):
it's also independent support.
And that's pretty consistentwith the That's awesome.
The polling that we've done, andthat is getting 78% of Americans
to agree on anything Yeah.
Is quite remarkable.
And so that, that's a clear signthat they care about this issue.
They're concerned about the plastic foamthat harms the health of ocean animals.
(46:44):
And that polling, we asked aquestion about that on just concern
and found 88% of US voters wereconcerned about the plastic foam
and the harms to, to ocean wildlife.
So there's strong public support for this.
And then the challenge there ismaking sure that that message
gets to the, the decision makers.
I think.
(47:05):
Across party lines.
There is concern aboutthe, about plastics.
Mm-hmm.
There's concern about theimpacts of plastics on the ocean.
There's, as we learn more aboutmicroplastics and the impacts on human
health, there's concern about that too.
And then the challenge there is gettingthat concern from members of Congress,
(47:25):
in this case, to change to action.
And yeah.
Unfortunately, one of the thingsthat happens is that sometimes people
default to the solution is recycling.
'cause that's what we've heard.
Yes.
For Yes.
30, 50, 60 years.
That if we just recycled more plastic,that's gonna solve the problem.
That's not gonna solve the problem.
It's not gonna solve itfor plastics overall.
(47:47):
It's not gonna solve it for plastic foam.
So of all the plastic wastecreated, only 9% has been recycled.
Mm-hmm.
The rest mm-hmm.
Ends up in landfills, burned inincinerator, or ends up in the
environment, including the ocean.
Plastic foam.
Even, even worse, the currentrecycling rates for that in the US
(48:07):
are less than 1% of plastic foam.
Yeah.
Is recycled.
Yeah.
So there's, the good part of that,as I was saying, is that people are
concerned about this issue that'sthe public at large, um, as well
as our decision makers in Congress.
Um, but we need to push on the,on the solutions and we know
it's gonna take, take time.
(48:29):
Mm-hmm.
Um, for an administration that's notpushing strong environmental policies,
it means we spend more time defendingthe policies that are on the books.
So some of the Gotcha.
The laws that you were just mentioning,where going back to protect the Marine
Mammal Protection Act, were Yeah.
Protect, working to protect Noah,which oversees a lot of the mm-hmm.
(48:50):
The oceans and the protections.
Um, and that is.
It would be much better if we werepushing, being able, it would be much
better if we were able to push forwardstrong policies that did even more.
But right now we're at the pointwhere it's on the national level.
It's about a lot about defendingthe laws that are on the book and
finding champions and supportersin Congress from both political
(49:12):
parties who are gonna gonna do that.
And where there are even moreopportunities in the short term
is on the, on the state level.
Wonderful.
And let's be honest too, like someof these policies don't just get
written up in one day and then put itthrough Congress, and then they're,
they're voted on and they go throughand they're done like the next day.
This, sometimes these takeyears to put together.
(49:33):
Uh, you know, unfortunately, sometimesit takes years for people to gain
the support like within, withinCongress or on a federal level, even
state level and even local level.
Uh, and so there's, so like what I, Iguess my question is, is there's no need
to stop because of specific administrationmay not want to put it through.
You continue to.
Bring it forward, but also knowingthat at some point there's gonna be
(49:56):
somebody who's interested in thisand will, will be the champion or
champions to, to push it through.
Correct.
Definitely.
So yeah, it is, um, we'll make as muchprogress as we can right now and defend
all the laws that we can right now, andwe need, you know, the public needs to
get engaged with that and support that.
But it is also, this will be long term.
(50:18):
So if we can't pass a bill to phaseout plastic foam across the country
this year, they, we'll keep buildingtowards next year and the year after.
They'll ultimately, we've built upenough support to do it and that's why
that public concern, getting people totalk to their local elected officials,
whether that's their mayor or their citycounselor or their member of Congress,
(50:38):
it's so important for that concernthen to change that into, into action.
Yeah.
And, and let's be honest, if you put itthrough local and state levels and you see
progress in there, that might, you know,trigger somebody at the federal level
to be like, oh, this actually worked.
How did it work?
Okay, let's put, let's use this aspectin this state and let's use this aspect
in this state and let's put it together.
(51:00):
So there's, there's a lot ofbenefit in doing it at the
different, at the different levels.
Let me ask you this, this is somethingthat I've been curious about and I haven't
seen any data on it, but, and it's moreanecdotal from responses that I have.
Anytime I post up anything plasticrelated or plastic pollution related,
we, we've covered it a a number oftimes over the 10 years of this podcast.
I get, you know, people over those,those 10 years have been like, oh,
(51:21):
well, you know, the plastic straw thing,it's, it's, it's ruined everything.
And why are we protecting plastic straws?
I've even heard some people like,who cares about sea turtles?
Which by the way, they're no longeron my friend list and follow the list.
I mean, sea turtles areneed to be protected.
They are angels intheir own little, right.
But I, I, I digress.
Um.
(51:42):
Has the, has the focus on plastic strawssince that, you know, that that video
that went viral where the plastic strawwas pulled outta that sea turtle has
it hindered the ability to put throughplastic, uh, uh, or anti plastic or
plastic, um, policies to handle not only,you know, plastic straws, but others.
(52:04):
Have you found that to, to happen?
Has that been studied or looked atin any kind of way that you know of?
I don't know if there'sbeen any, any studies.
I think like that particularsea turtle that had that Yeah.
Straw and it's knows that, I'm surelots of your listeners have Oh, yeah.
Seen that.
Yeah.
Or people it now.
Right.
It had a, it had a big impact.
(52:25):
Right, right.
Nobody, equity.
Most people, um, unlike your ex-friend,do care about sea turtles and do,
like, are concerned about that.
So I think that had a really big impact.
If we dealt with all the problems ofplastic straws and people we moved to
reusable straws, or people who don'tneed a straw, didn't use a straw.
(52:45):
Like if we solve that problem, there'sstill a lot more plastic in the, in the
world that we need to need to address.
Right.
So it's not the big focusof our campaigns, right?
We're looking more at the single useplastic packaging and the plastic bags.
And the plastic foam, um, as a,you know, as this report mm-hmm.
(53:06):
Shares.
Um, so I think it has been really likethat sea turtle really good in educating
people about that a problem exists.
Um, it is, it's not just aboutthe straws, it's about so much.
Yeah, of course.
So much more so.
It is.
And I think that's important for peopleto keep in mind and to, and to know.
(53:26):
And we've just gotta keep educatingpeople if they think it's been
solved 'cause we dealt with thestraws or they don't wanna Yeah.
Talk about straws anymore.
There's Right.
A whole lot of other singleuse plastic that is having an
impact on the public's health.
It's on our oceans, onthe marine wildlife.
All of those are thingsthat we, we need to address.
(53:48):
Yeah, absolutely.
And, and I completely agree with you.
I just, I find it interesting thatif people keep bringing it up and I'm
like, we're still focused on this, Icould, I, I call it the gateway plastic,
you know, like the gateway drug.
Like it's a gateway plastic to reallyunderstanding us how our use of single
use plastics can affect the environment.
Um, I do love how, you know,the, the plastic foam was
the focus of this rapport.
(54:09):
I think breaking it down and reallyputting into pieces that people can
really understand and saying, Hey,look, if we take action on this and
we reduce this, this could have.
A really great benefitfor our ocean health.
With that said, if this does getpassed, what can, can people expect
to see with, with ocean health interms of like even our own health
(54:32):
if this gets out of production?
Yes.
Well, so as we were just talkingabout with the straws, there'll still
be, there'll still be more to do.
It isn't the whole problem, but itis an important piece of the problem
and it is one of the most problematicones that we should just move on for.
I think some of the things, we'll seeit, it's currently one of the most
common types of plastic found in beachcleanups in the US and I believe that's
(54:55):
also true in other parts of the world.
So we should see a big decrease in that.
So that means there's less foam that'sending up on our beaches and in our
oceans, there'll be hopefully less.
Plastic foam coffee cups thatpeople are drinking out of.
So it, it won't solve the whole problem,but it will make it so that we are
using less of this problematic chemicalcalled styrene, that the little bits
(55:19):
and pieces of plastic foam are notbreaking up and ending up in our, on our
coast, on the beaches, in our waterways.
And that animals then are ingesting it andeither choking on it or just taking those
chemicals through their, their bodies.
So it will make a big impact and it shouldbe a good first important step for the
(55:40):
US to do in terms of national policy.
There definitely will be more to do.
Um, yeah, and we can, for us, we can lookto the states and to other countries to
see what else to do, but it is a goodimportant first step that will have an
impact on the amount of plastic goinginto, into our oceans and that the
plastic that we're being exposed to.
(56:01):
Awesome.
Good.
Good to know.
Now if, you know, my audience is.
They're, they're ready.
They're hyped.
They're, they want to help.
They always ask Andrew, how can I help?
How can I help with this like, piece oflegislation or policy to get through?
Or how can I help with this campaign?
So, you know, this is your chance.
Talk to directly to the audienceand be like, how can they help with
(56:22):
this specific campaign for Oceania?
Great.
That is a, I love that question.
Um, because there's lots ofthings that folks can do to help.
The, um, biggest thing for folks in theUS who are concerned about this issue, can
you, is talk to your members of Congress,ask, tell them about the problem of
plastic foam, tell 'em about the impactson the oceans and the marine life and
(56:45):
human health, and ask them to supportthe bill, which is called the farewell,
the Foam Act, really straightforward.
Mm-hmm.
Phases out the single use plastic foam.
And we need, we need more supportersand we need more Democrats and more
Republicans to, to support the bill.
So that's a great thing that peoplein the, the US could do if you're
(57:07):
a member of Congress is already onboard with that, talk to your, um,
state and local officials too abouthow they can, they can get involved.
Um, and in Canada, it seems likemore work to do there too, but
you guys are on the, on the way.
Absolutely.
We have a, we have a little bitof a, a pipeline problem these
days, but we, that's a differentissue and, and something that we
(57:28):
have to address in the long term.
But, uh, you know, our plastics, I'mvery pleased that we, that we were
able to come up with, uh, like our,our government was able to come up with
that, um, in, uh, in a, in good time.
Like it was, it was really nice.
It was definitely needed and, andhopefully we, that can be expanded
upon and, and, and made even moreprolific, uh, throughout the thing.
We see more changes.
(57:48):
So, I mean, it's, it's, once it's done.
And it's in, in effect.
It's, it's really nice to see, you know,the alternatives start to come out and
businesses be happy about it and stuff.
And, and I, I really, uh, I reallylook forward to seeing that in the
US as well when we, when we visit.
So, uh, Chrisy, thank you.
Me, me too.
Yeah, exactly right.
But I just wanna say I forcedto share that with you.
Yep.
Yes.
(58:08):
Yes.
We'll have you back on to, to kindof give us an update on this, on
this policy and see where, where itwent and what, how we can help in,
in other ways and, and so forth.
Um, my audience is your audience,so just let us know, you know,
what, what, what we can do.
'cause that's what we want to do.
We want help.
So, Christy, I wanna thank you so much,uh, for, for coming on the podcast
and sharing this with us is somethingthat's extremely important to me.
(58:29):
I'm sure it's extremely important to thepeople listening to this, this episode.
And, and we really appreciate thehelp and the work that you and Oceania
have done over the years and continueto do, uh, now and in the future.
So thank you so much.
Thank you.
It's been such a pleasure.
Thank you, Christy, for joiningus on today's episode of the How
to Protect the Ocean Podcast.
I am going to put the link foreverybody who listened to this, to
the report in the show notes, so youcan get access to that very quickly.
(58:53):
Highly recommend that you did.
It's very easy read, lots of pictures,lots of cool writings, and just kind of
a call to action, quick facts, so forth.
It's really great.
I think everybody should be readingsomething like this, even looking at these
little styrofoam pellets and how much theylook like eggs and how much they can be
eaten or look like food, and they can beeaten by sea birds, sea turtles, marine
(59:15):
mammals such as seals and sea lions anddolphins, and orcas of all different fish.
Just all different sharks,all different types of animals
in the sea, but also on land.
So something that's very hazardous.
It's hazardous to us.
We know that for sure leechesout chemicals and there's no need
for them anymore with all thedifferent types of alternatives.
So check out the call to action.
(59:35):
Do what you can.
Any kind of questions thatyou have, you can contact me.
You can go to speak up forblue.com/contact, and this goes
to Bright to my personal email.
You can also go to join the undertowthat's at Speak up for blue.com/join
the undertow to be guided to look athow we can help more of these campaigns
in the future and help Oceania out andhelp Christie out and her colleagues
(59:58):
and their partners, of course.
But this is not the lastyou'll hear from Oceana.
We have a couple of other interviewslined up with different aspects of their
responsibilities and of their programs,and I can't wait to bring those to you
as well as updates to this campaign.
So I wanna thank you so much forjoining me on today's episode of the
How to Protect the Ocean Podcast.
I'm your host, Andrew Lone fromthe True Nord strong and free.
(01:00:18):
Have a great day, we talk to younext time and happy conservation.