Huntsman Marine Science Centre: Pressing pause on marine debris at the Huntsman

Over the past few months at the Huntsman we have been looking at ways to reduce marine debris in the Bay of Fundy. Marine debris is any unused man-made object that makes its way (intentionally or unintentionally) into the ocean. A lot of the marine debris throughout the world’s oceans is plastic, and the Bay of Fundy is no exception.

Collected by five people kayaking for one hour in the Bay.

View of the Bay of Fundy from Green's Point.

Plastic pulled up in a drag from the bottom.

You may have heard some buzz about this over the past year with some studies coming out showing that there may be more plastic than fish (by weight) it the oceans by 2050! Another study estimated that over 8 million metric tonnes of plastic are entering the oceans each year- this is bad news for animals that might mistake it for food or get caught in it, and for the ocean and beaches which are quickly becoming something of a dumping ground. Most of this garbage takes a long time to break down, if it ever does.

The good news? This is an issue everyone can take part in preventing and correcting! We can each do our part in reducing the amount of plastic in the ocean by going back to the good old 3 R’s: Reduce- Reuse- Recycle.

Reduce:

There are lots of tiny things we can do that result in a big reduction in the amount of garbage we produce:

When shopping, be aware of packaging, and see if the item you need comes in biodegradable or even better, without any packaging.
Remember your reusable bags at the grocery store.
Say no to straws!
Watch out for sneaky hidden plastics in everyday products like toothpaste and face wash. Look at the ingredients list- if ‘polyethylene’ or ‘polypropylene’ is on the list that product contains microbeads!

The blue spots in the toothpaste image are microbeads.

Polyethylene is an ingredient in this face wash.

Reuse:

We can reuse products in their original form to prevent more waste, and often save money.

Carry your reusable water bottle and coffee cup with you. Some shops provide discounts if you bring your own coffee cup.
Embrace tupperware and sporks!
Clothing, books, toys, or electronics can be donated and given a second life- making your trash another person’s treasure.

From today's lunch.

Recycle:

Finally, if you have any leftover materials that you couldn't avoid, and couldn't find a way to re-use, you can recycle them so they can be turned into something else useful and stay out of the landfill or the ocean.

Recycling facilities are different in different regions; check with your local service commission about what you can recycle or return for rebate and where.

If you would like to get more involved in cleaning up a coastline or beach close to you, check out the Great Canadian Shoreline Clean-up and start or join a clean-up anywhere in Canada!