Paddle Out Plastic

Want to get in a paddle workout before 4th of July food and fireworks festivities and do some good, too? Join us to paddle out plastic in LA Harbor on Thursday, July 4. We’ll launch at Cabrillo Boat Launch Ramp at 8:00AM, paddle out past the visiting tall ship Amerigo Vespucci (see photos by Laura Raab), then down the Main Channel to pick up trash along the way, including in a pocket that is collecting lots of it (see photos).

As always, you’ll need to bring your own vessel. If it takes you awhile to inflate your SUP or kayak or otherwise prepare to launch, please plan your arrival accordingly so we’re all ready to launch together at 8:00AM. Best to wear sunscreen (ideally reef safe), hat, sunglasses, and reusable gloves (if you're squeamish, bring rubber gloves). Wear or have on board a life vest/preserver. Bring a reusable water bottle and your choice of tools for picking up stuff--a net, grabbers, tongs--and for toting it--bucket, laundry basket, bag. Whatever you have on board, though, be sure to tie it down. We don't want to add to what's littering the water.

2/3 of our ocean cleanup team this morning in first photo--James Richard Kao and Ken Swenson. Thankfully, we didn't need the 007 interceptor which isn't operating now. It was a very light litter day in Marina del Rey. Did retrieve 359 pieces but that was over 7 miles. Biggest numbers were 132 soft plastic film fragments ands 84 food wrappers, plus we took some lures away from the mussels on the riprap. We saw a beautiful and brave yellow-crowned night heron. And got a great workout. Excellent morning!

No AI here; just the way it is: lots of plastic litter plucked from the water. 3 frames of it. Each frame 6ft x 9ft or 2x3 meters. Exactly 1800 pieces to be precise. Well, 9 of those were not plastic. The big counts included 329 food wrappers, 252 lids, 83 straws, 83 plastic bottles and other containers, 81 product wrappers, 74 cups, 56 plastic bags, 455 foam fragments, 144 hard plastic fragments, and 104 soft plastic film fragments.
Something tells me that we won't have a plastic free sea for plastic free July.

Crab entangled. So many ways wildlife become ensnared. On this morning we found several, including a crab ensnared by fishing line that was tangled up among mussels under the fishing pier. I managed to cut the line and free the crab while fending off its pincers. (A good reason to wear gloves.) Found many other specimens of human detritus just waiting to grab and entangle wildlife. I was too late to help a bird whose wings had got caught in dangling line. Is cleaning up after others the only solution to this?

Legislators hanging their hopes on recycling to address the plastic waste problem must change course and promote other options such as other materials and reuse models. Recycling is itself generating an enormous amount of plastic waste in the form of microplastics Senator Ben Allen Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi
Thank you Kathy Christie for sending this article our way.

Recycling Plastic Is a Dangerous Waste of Time The recycling industry—and the world at large—has yet to fully reckon with a bombshell study that dropped last year.

Beach balls! Must be summer!

Duckie is aghast at all the trash. We are too. (This duckie doesn't belong there either tbh.) Litter just went on and on commingled with kelp along the riprap north of Angels Gate Lighthouse (across from the Harbor breakwater) in LA Harbor. Two of us were out for four hours this morning and brought in a good haul (photo 2)--50 pounds of mostly plastic, but there was more in that area when we left if anybody is able to get out there. Careful of the wind--while it was calm heading out, we battled that and a receding tide returning to shore. (Good workout tho!) And careful of the reckless boaters ignoring wake warnings coming out of the marina.
We flagged a lifeguard boat to ask them to contact the Harbor staff about the piling wrapped in plastic marooned on the riprap (photo 3). They should be hauling that out along with the debris boom and rope (photos 4 and 5) that are stranded on the riprap for now but will eventually wash out to sea.
Port of Los Angeles

It's doable.

.

Soft plastic in water 6'x9' and hard plastic in water 6'x9'.

That's a wrap on our World Oceans Day paddle the day after. . . . With the wind forecast hitting 10 knots for this morning, we stayed in the Cabrillo Marina area, then those high winds never blew after all. We enjoyed tootling around amidst fun boat names--James with "Perfect Balance" and Lisa and Elizabeth, "Bellisima", appropriately. And we found some trash. Didn't seem like much at the time but added up to 882 pieces. The Paddle Out Plastic crew today included Elizabeth, Lisa, Gwen, James, Ken and Eva. Good job all!
Shout out to Mike Alva of SAN PEDRO CARING PROACTIVE RESIDENTS (CPR CLEANUP CREW) for the kayak and gear! We put it to good use today!

We're burying ourselves in plastic.
This trip out we retrieved from the water 824 pieces of litter, mostly plastic as usual, including 61 single-use plastic beverage bottles (half of them water bottles), 52 cups, 103 lids (half of them bottle caps), 29 plastic bags, 94 food wrappers, and 309 foam fragments.
We know what the collective "we" should be doing--reducing our use of plastic packaging--and some legislators and certainly NGOs are working hard to advance that. The legislature closed a loophole in California's plastic bag ban last week. Yet, recent proposals that would nibble away at our excessive use of plastic by limiting single-use plastic cups and water bottles have been shot down, including by legislators we've long believed would support such reduction. Disappointing.
Catherine Blakespear Senator Ben Allen Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi 5 Gyres Surfrider Foundation Sierra Club Heal the Bay Algalita Marine Research and Education Moore Institute for Plastic Pollution Research

Come celebrate World Oceans Day with us the day after on Sunday, June 9 as we clean up the water in LA Harbor and enjoy the wildlife along the way. We will launch from the Cabrillo Marina Boat Launch Ramp at 8:00AM. Look for our Paddle Out Plastic flags! We'll plan to return to the launch ramp before 11.

If it takes you awhile to inflate your SUP or kayak or otherwise prepare to launch, please plan your arrival accordingly so we’re all ready to launch together at 8AM. Parking is ample and is $1/hour. Payment is only by credit card at the kiosk as you enter. Best to wear sunscreen (ideally reef safe), hat, sunglasses, and reusable gloves. Wear or have on board a life vest/preserver. Bring a reusable water bottle and your choice of tools for picking up stuff--a net, grabbers, tongs--and for toting it--bucket, laundry basket, bag. Whatever you have on board, though, be sure to tie it down. We don't want to add to what's littering the water.

Let's get out and enjoy the outdoors while we protect our ocean!

"The human testicles had a plastic concentration almost three times higher than that found in the dog te**es. Polyethylene, used in plastic bags and bottles, was the most common microplastic found, followed by PVC."

Microplastics found in every human testicle in study Scientists say discovery may be linked to decades-long decline in s***m counts in men around the world

Lotsa lids!
1,785 pieces total plucked from the water by 3 of us on one morning paddle.
First frame is mostly hard plastic pieces, including 304 plastic lids, 72 plastic cups, 63 plastic bottles and other containers, 77 straws, 135 hard plastic fragments, and 103 foam fragments.
Second frame is soft plastic film pieces, including 593 food wrappers, 72 plastic bags, 162 film fragments, 78 product wrappers, and 15 balloons.
Didn't take the time to spread out the soft plastic pieces all neat and tidy this time or it would have been more frames, more backache, and more blowing away in the wind, but you get the picture. It's not pretty.



Senator Ben Allen Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi

WARNING!
If you are tagged or contacted by anyone selling clothing or other items with the name or logo of Paddle Out Plastic, DO NOT BUY! This is a SCAM. No person or business has a license or any other right to use the name or logo of Paddle Out Plastic. Someone under the Facebook handle Ja Ck recently tagged us and some of our followers with a link purporting to sell Paddle Out Plastic logo clothing. We don't know who this is and have not authorized them or anyone else to sell items with the Paddle Out Plastic name or logo. Postings on Reddit report that this person has wrongfully used the names and logos of other reputable organizations to attract customers, and then frequently fails to deliver a product or delivers a poor quality product. If Paddle Out Plastic decides to create merchandise, we will review the sustainability practices of any supplier and any merchandise will be offered or promoted directly by Paddle Out Plastic. Please don’t let scammers profit off of the good work of Paddle Out Plastic volunteers, and don’t let yourself get scammed.

463 pieces this time, including 156 food wrappers, 46 lids, 44 cups, 41 plastic bags, and 27 straws. Plus 66 unidentifiable soft, hard and foam plastic pieces. One paddler. One morning. does anybody really believe recycling is going to solve this?
Last photo--not plastic! Sometimes the kelp fades so much it looks like plastic! 

For the birds. . . removing ghost gear death traps. Grabbing fishing line and netting lost to fishers and tangled up beneath the fishing pier, just waiting to entangle birds flying by.
This is a good job for stand-up paddleboarders, since they can reach so much higher btw all you paddleboarders. 😃
Lots and lots of birds out there lately--brown pelicans, cormorants, oyster catchers, gulls, turnstones, terns, sandpipers--all along the breakwater.

Round ray just after it swam up to the plastic lid in the upper right corner and nibbled it or smelled it or whatever round rays do. It rejected it. We should too.

Another beautiful Southern California day, this time at Wilson Park listening to inspirational speakers and talking to the public about what we've learned about plastic. We had a steady stream of visitors, young and old interested in hearing about plastic impacts to our water and soil, its contribution to GHG emissions, and what research is telling us about its presence in our bodies. People are interested in solutions and we encourage reduction in the use of single use plastic and support for businesses converting to reuse and refill models. This was an Earth Day event sponsored by our assemblymember Al Muratsuchi, who is at the forefront of bringing about positive environmental change.

Come see us on display at Wilson Park Saturday morning and be inspired by environmentalist and actor Ed Begley Jr and longtime local activist Dency Nelson! 

Which foods have the most plastics? You may be surprised

Which foods have the most plastics? You may be surprised How much plastic is in the food you eat? Much more than you realize, experts say.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/04/22/stop-recycling-plastic-earth-day/

Opinion | Don’t waste your time recycling plastic It might seem counterintuitive, but plastic as a material is not recyclable.

For Earth Day, we celebrated on Saturday by sharing our sculpture at a Teach In (prior post), then Sunday by paddling out plastic in Long Beach, and then Monday by laying out all the plastic we retrieved from the water Sunday in 6'x9' (2x3m) frames to make informative and hopefully impactful images. Even our wonderful paddlers Ken 1 and 2, Lisa, Chigusa and hubby Bobby, Raelynn and James will be surprised at how much we collected collectively. Though each filled buckets and bags on their boats and boards, it's always surprising to see it add up!
Our total was 2,566 pieces, weighing in at 96 pounds!
The breakdown includes (roughly in the order they appear in the photos): 92 plastic beverage bottles, 53 other jugs and containers (including lots of condiment cups), 225 cups (plastic, foam or plastic-lined paper cups), 452 lids (half of them bottle caps), 352 food wrappers, 187 product wrappers (including 26 cigarillo wrappers), 52 straws, 69 plastic bags (20 of them ziploc bags), 114 ci******es (a record number--by far more than we've previously collected from the water on a paddle out), 18 cigarette tips, 30 personal care items (including 14 tooth floss picks), 35 balls and other toys, 123 hard plastic fragments, 162 soft plastic film fragments, 442 foam fragments, 21 gloves (17 latex, 3 plastic, 1 leather), 9 latex balloons, and miscellaneous other stuff, including a safety cone, car bumper, pillow, large spool of ribbon, and 3 circular packing straps of the sort that we see around the necks of seals and sea lions.
The photo of trash in the water shows how funky it was out there--trash commingled with lots of algae. The photo of the shopping cart in the water shows one item we had to leave behind. The group photo shows our happy, conscientious, Earth-conscious crew, except for the photographer, who shows up in the last photo.
Hope you feel good about your efforts Earth Day and every day. It's going to take as many of us who care working proactively to offset the actions of those who don't. Thank you for being on Earth's side!

Just in time for
Thanks Random Lengths News

Championing the Fight Against Plastic Pollution: - Random Lengths News Random Lengths News Championing the Fight Against Plastic Pollution: - The Los Angeles Harbor Area's Only Independently owned news magazine serving San Pedro, Wilmington, Carson, Lomita, Torrance, Long Beach, Rancho Palos Verdes and Harbor Gateway.

Come say "Hi" and see the Paddle Out Plastic display at this Earth Day Teach In Saturday, April 20 between 11AM-2PM at El Camino College!
Did you know that plastic is made from petroleum? (plus a bunch of additives, many of which are known carcinogens and endocrine disruptors)
Did you know that plastic generates carbon emissions at all phases, from fossil fuel extraction through "end of life" (incineration, recycling, landfilling, open burning, and leaking into environment)?
Did you know that policies to reduce plastic pollution can have benefits for climate change mitigation?
This is just one of the various activities we'll be doing around Earth Day to advance our mission to remove plastic waste from waters, provide data regarding waterborne plastic waste in support of related citizen science, and educate the public about plastic waste, including through art. Join us if you can!

In celebration of Earth Day, we'll paddle out plastic on Sunday, April 21 in Alamitos Bay and Cerritos Channel, launching from Mother’s Beach (not Leeway) at 8AM. We’ll return to the beach about 11AM. For those who are up for it afterwards, we’ll grab some lunch at Urban Plates or Luxxe Café in Long Beach (to be chosen by vote of those lunching).

The Long Beach Grand Prix takes place the same weekend, so there may be extra traffic, although we will be well away from the event itself. If it takes you awhile to inflate your SUP or kayak or otherwise prepare to launch, please plan your arrival accordingly so we’re all ready to launch together at 8AM. Parking at Mother’s Beach is $2/hour and will be paid by a donor of Paddle Out Plastic. (Paddle Out Plastic is now a 501(c) (3), so donations are tax deductible, if you know anybody who would like to support us.)

Best to wear sunscreen (ideally reef safe), hat, sunglasses, and reusable gloves. Wear or have on board a life vest/preserver. Bring a reusable water bottle and your choice of tools for picking up stuff--a net, grabbers, tongs--and for toting it--bucket, laundry basket, bag. Whatever you have on board, though, be sure to tie it down. We don't want to add to what's littering the water.

We will cover a few miles. Weather and water conditions, even obstacles in the water, can change from day to day and hour to hour. By participating, you accept responsibility and acknowledge potential dangers and fully assume all risks associated with participation.

Photo is of Ash and Kim at a previous paddle in Cerritos Channel

Companies put their names on their plastic packaging for ad value, but maybe they should think about how it reflects on them when their bags are all cruddied up and trashing the environment. It's not a selling point that you're still using this packaging Jack in the Box Amazon Prime The Honey Baked Ham Company Stater Bros. Markets Stiiizy Food 4 Less Promotions. It's an
We collected these 6'x9' (2x3m) frames full of trash, almost all plastic, from the water over three hours. First frame is 83 plastic bags, including 24 ziploc baggies, and 98 soft plastic film fragments. Second frame is
366 food wrappers and 99 product wrappers. Third frame is the remainder of the total of 1,188 pieces, including lots of plastic cups, lids, beverage bottles and other containers, straws, hard and foam plastic pieces, ci******es and related paraphernalia, and a lounge chair mat.

Laura and Jeff (photo 1) and Eva (photo 2) returned with a pretty good haul (photo 3) on this beautiful Tuesday morning. We've had some rain, high wind, and high bacteria levels keeping us off the water, having to cancel some group paddles, so it felt good to get out and pluck that plastic litter out! We also enjoyed the wildlife, including abundant sea stars. Have you ever seen sea star babies? Check them out in photo 4.

Please keep your eyes out folks!