You can find more World Oceans Day learning resources and other science learning tools on their website.

What are the most exciting projects happening in marine conservation currently?

The progress being made to save endangered ocean wildlife is very exciting. For example, scientists and aquarists at Cabrillo Marine Aquarium in Los Angeles raised 400 giant sea bass and released them into the ocean. This is incredibly challenging work because Aquarium staff have to apply what they know about raising other ocean animals and then tailor it to the giant sea bass. Each ocean animal is unique and thrives best in certain ocean conditions, which need to be recreated in the Aquarium. The process requires constant monitoring and is very time-intensive. Yet, they did it!

The giant sea bass is listed as critically endangered by the International Union for
Conservation of Nature (IUCN), with an estimated 500 left in the wild off the coast of
California. The population almost doubled with this new batch of 400 giant sea bass raised at and released by Cabrillo Marine Aquarium. While not all the released giant sea bass will make it to adulthood because that’s the nature of the ocean, projects like this give me hope that we as humans can find innovative ways to heal some of the damage we’ve done.

How can families and educators support ocean restoration and conservation?

Support organizations in your community working on ocean restoration and conservation by learning, visiting, volunteering, and donating. By learning online and/or visiting, you’ll be able to increase your awareness about the ocean restoration and conservation projects in progress along a coast near you. By volunteering or donating, you’ll be supporting the organizations and staff working to make ocean restoration and conservation projects a success. Most ocean organizations run on tight budgets with few staff and need all the help they can get. Out of all the donations made worldwide, only 3% go to environmental and animal conservation organizations – let’s work together to increase that number!

What can we do as individuals to reduce plastic pollution and restore the oceans?

Use your power as a consumer to start shifting the tide of plastic. Avoid buying single-use plastics such as water bottles, balloons, straws, etc. Also, use your voice. If you see something sold in what you consider an egregious amount of plastic packaging, write a letter to the company expressing your frustration politely. Sometimes we have to buy things entombed in plastic out of necessity, but it’s good for companies to know you’re watching and looking to them to make a change.

What’s one simple thing we can do today to support marine conservation?

Open your door, walk outside, pick up a piece of trash on the ground, and dispose of it properly. Even if you live far from the coast, there is still a good chance that piece of trash will end up in the ocean. Rain washes trash into local waterways, and streams and rivers carry that trash to the coast where it washes into the ocean. Every piece of trash that doesn’t end up in the ocean is a good thing.

What is your favorite interesting fact about our oceans?

The greatest number of bioluminescent organisms live in the sea! Everything from
single-celled plants to deep-sea squid and fish can produce and display their own light – so cool!

To read the full blog with insight from experts in the field, head to Twinkl.com!

Photo by Wanetta Ayers

Research and observations have discovered that animals might have compassion.

Our world is a complicated and strange place. When we humans think we’ve learned all we can about the planet, something new and amazing emerges to challenge our thinking and give us deeper insight into this place we call home.

Understanding nature helps us understand ourselves. Our relationships with animals and the environment are intertwined. What we do impacts our lives, the lives of animals and the rest of the world. We can also learn so much from our animal friends, including whether or not animals have empathy.

Humpback Whales and Compassion

In the course of 62 years, there have been 115 cases recorded of humpback whales defending other species against killer whale attacks.  It has been argued that the humpbacks do this out of compassion and empathy for other creatures. One species coming to the defense of another anywhere in nature is usually unheard of. Empathy is usually a trait that is unique to humans and our higher brain function. We have been taught that animals don’t have the same brain function we do, so they are unable to experience emotions and think beyond their own survival.

Studies have shown that human brain development and animal brain development are different and not all species have the same regions in their brains that we do. However, other tests have shown that whales have spindles in their brain, like we do, and that they have the capacity to communicate, form alliances and relationships, cooperate with one another and use tools. Perhaps it’s possible these spindles also allow them to show empathy.

Other species that also have spindles include great apes and dolphins, and we’ve been taught that these animals show high intelligence. But even without spindles, it’s possible that other species have the capacity to show compassion and empathy for others, and science has seen this in experiments.

Science is uncertain why humpback whales would come to the aid of another species in trouble and have questioned whether or not it is an ingrained response. They may have been attacked by an orca when they were young, so now any orca attack spurs them into action. Some argue that it is a show of force and the end result is the orca realizing humpbacks shouldn’t be messed with and will avoid their young at all costs.

Scientists and researchers caution about projecting human emotions onto the humpback whales’ actions because not all humpbacks display this trait. Until they have more answers, they are cautious about how to classify the actions. However, they can’t deny that the defense of another species is occurring.

Beyond Human Compassion

Anyone who has owned a cat or a dog will attest to the fact that their pet at some point in their life seemed to know exactly how the owner was feeling and tried to comfort them. It has also been proven that dogs can use facial expressions consciously to engage and communicate with humans. Cats understand human behavior and often tailor their actions to how their owners are feeling, perhaps trying to make them happy when they are sad by cuddling with them.

Observations have shown that elephants show one another compassion and try to help if another elephant is in pain or in trouble. Again, however, science cautions about attributing these acts as empathy because this trait is difficult to test for and prove, especially in the wild. But again, it’s hard to deny that these acts are occurring.

Aside from the difficulty in being able to prove that these actions are empathetic, there are religious, philosophical and economical reasons to denying that animals have empathy. We would have to ask ourselves some very tough questions about existence and how we treat animals and the world if we discover that they are capable of these emotions.

Whether or not animals express compassion and empathy is still up for debate and study, but we’ll need the animals around to come to a conclusion. When it comes to humpback whales coming to the defense of other species, if we ever want to find out exactly what is going on, we need to make sure the oceans can sustain and support life. Humans are polluting the world in terrible ways, but we have the power and the technology to fix it. It’s time we show some compassion and empathy for other creatures.

Bio: Emily Folk is a conservation and sustainability writer. You can read more of her work on her blog Conservation Folks.

Photo by Alfonso Montiel

While it may look like something out of an alien invasion movie, kelp is a deceptively healthy foundation for any ocean ecosystem. Adorned with slimy green leaves, bulbous heads and tentacle-like stalks, kelp isn’t much to look at. But where it counts — from water filtration to providing a unique habitat for various sea creatures — kelp lends a valuable service to the sea. In desirable coastal locations, efforts to improve water quality have focused on kelp forest growth.

Ocean Acidification

One of the significant problems impacting oceanic climates is acidification. Fossil fuels are notorious for spawning acid rain, which enters the watershed and finds its way into larger bodies of water, and eventually, the ocean. Likewise, the sea absorbs a large percentage of fossil fuel emissions, which also contributes to rising acidity. A more acidic ocean can impact the structural integrity of shelled crustaceans and mollusks, damaging the carbonate with which the shells are built.

Ongoing studies suggest that kelp helps with this problem. As with most sea vegetation, kelp can filter water and absorb carbon dioxide, while emitting beneficial waste products through the process of photosynthesis. With lower carbon levels in the water, it is possible ocean acidity will also decrease. Seaweed can also aid in this process, as it is also a photosynthesizer. While no one is sure whether these efforts will translate into observable outcomes, the research is ongoing.

Algal Blooms

Algal blooms are harmful outcomes of human interaction with the ocean. The process begins with a surplus of oceanic nutrients — primarily phosphorous and nitrogen — which can come from farmland fertilizer, industrial dumping or other sources. Colonies of algae overfed by these nutrients, begin reproducing out of control. What results is a massive colony of algae, which can release toxic by-products or suck up all the oceanic oxygen, suffocating other animals.

Ironically, the best solution for harmful algal blooms might lie in algae. Kelp, an alga itself, is an ideal home to certain bacteria that effectively combat the microalgae populations. Assuming enough of the kelp exists, these bacteria could presumably keep order between the microalgae and the rest of the ecosystem. This is another direction kelp researchers are investigating.

Growing Kelp and Seaweed

Kelp is a reasonably resilient and low-maintenance addition to coastlines. It has few requirements — namely, that the ocean temperature is between 42 and 72 ̊ F, and that the water is clear enough for sunlight to reach the bottom. The second requirement is necessary because kelp begins its growth process as a small alga rooted to the ocean floor and grows rapidly upward from there. A rocky bottom, or another anchor of some kind, is also necessary, as kelp tends to get uprooted from looser floors.

However, with human assistance, kelp can be grown in most places. While there is nothing that can be done about the oceanic temperature, dredging the waters can be extremely effective for clearing the sun to reach the bottom and prevent the spread of contaminants in that water. Removing other vegetation allows for a clear line of sight and unhindered kelp growth, and is often good for cleaning up an ecosystem, regardless.

Unfortunately, dredging is a complex and controversial topic. Although it can provide benefits to removing sediment from seas, marine environments contain fragile ecosystems that may not survive the turbidity and disruption that comes from dredging. This becomes especially risky in areas with coral reefs that have particularly delicate ecosystems that are already threatened by climate change.

Seaweed, for its part, requires even less maintenance. As there are so many different varieties, there will most likely be a native, noninvasive variety for any ecosystem. Seeds and spores can be planted accordingly. Not only does the seaweed provide photosynthesis and a cleaner, less acidic environment, it also helps feed herbivorous wildlife.

A Cleaner Ocean

Environmental science seems to suggest that greater growth of seaweed and kelp can equalize ocean acidity, combat harmful algal blooms, and even feed local wildlife. Their growth and maintenance is fairly simple and can be undertaken on a large, cost-effective scale. With additional research, this method could see substantial use in the near future.

Washington’s Salmon Spill and the Aquaculture Challenge
By Emily Folk

Farmed fish Photo credit: Daderot

Aquaculture can be beneficial, but there are some issues that have to be fixed.

The world’s population is increasing, which means there will be more hungry people to feed. To ensure we can feed everyone and sustain our world, we need to develop and refine techniques for raising food. Aquaculture has the ability to help produce a cheap protein source for people to enjoy, but there are some problems.

Recently, an unknown number of salmon escaped from an aquaculture farm in Washington State into the wild population. This is problematic, of course, because no one knows what kind of impact these fish will have on the natural environment. It’s possible they can compete with wild populations for food or become an invasive species and push wild salmon to the brink of extinction. The goal is to get them out of the environment before damage can be done. This escape has highlighted aquaculture practices and made the rest of the world wonder if fish farming is the answer to producing more fish.

What Is the Future of Fish Farming?

The fish escape in Washington brought to light that the aquaculture industry needs to change. It has the potential to produce a lot of food for a lot of people, but it has to be done in an ecological and sustainable way. One way to ensure fish can’t escape is to monitor cages and fish populations using underwater drones. This will alert the companies that there is a problem before it turns into a catastrophe.

It’s also important to continue to conduct studies to determine best practices for housing fish and feeding them. As technology advances, fish farms should find more efficient and effective ways to raise fish and feed an ever-increasing world population. This is incredibly important in ensuring that wild fish populations aren’t fished into oblivion, which is a distinct possibility with the world’s desire to eat seafood.

What Criticisms Has the Escape Raised About Aquaculture?

There are many criticisms about fish farming, including those that focus on how the fish are raised and fed and whether they are healthy for human consumption. There’s also a worry that the fish kept in open pens in fresh or saltwater will have an impact on wild populations.

When it comes to growing fish for food, there are a variety of ways it can be accomplished. Large tanks can be constructed to house the fish populations, or open pens can be used to keep fish in fresh or saltwater areas. It’s even possible to raise fish for food in your backyard.

The variety of enclosures to house fish raises different questions. For those kept in tanks, the question of how clean the environment is for fish is often raised. In crowded cages, it’s more difficult to clean up waste, and with so many fish in one area, diseases can spread easily from one animal to another. This is usually combated with antibiotics, so then the question becomes how safe is antibiotic use for fish and humans.

For open tanks in freshwater and the ocean, some worry the farmed fish will spread disease to wild populations or that their waste will alter the natural environment. There is also the question of feed for farmed fish and if that gets into the wild population, will it change the eating habits of wild fish? Then, there is also the worry about what will happen to the environment if any of the farmed fish escape. At the moment, there aren’t many concrete answers to these concerns.

At its heart, aquaculture has the best intentions to provide protein to a growing population at an affordable price. There are some issues with how the companies operate, but with cooperation and advancements in technology, it’s possible to overcome these obstacles and create a sustainable practice that will impact the world in a positive way.

How to Find Sustainably Farmed Fish

So you might be wondering how do you find sustainably farmed fish and avoid the negative affects of non-sustainable fish farming? Well, you might be surprised to learn that sustainable seafood is not hard to find. Stores like Target, Safeway, Wegmans and Whole Foods all carry sustainably farmed fish.

Monterey Bay Aquarium also developed a Seafood Watch app that provides sustainable seafood recommendations. The app lets you search for the type of fish you want, like salmon. It then gives you a report of the best fish, the method of how they’re caught, and where the fish is available. Seafood Watch also tells you good alternatives if the best choices are not readily available as well as which types to avoid.

Finding sustainably farmed fish may seem like a daunting task, but there are definitely options available, and with the technology resources we have today, there’s a lot of help out there if you go looking for it. The most important thing is just to make sure you’re aware of where your fish is coming from and how it was farmed.

Tuna stack to by served by Anthony Walker Catering / Photo by Lori Stokoe

Head to Cabrillo Marine Aquarium this Sunday, Oct. 1 for the 4^th Annual Sustainable Seafood Expo! The goal of the event is to teach consumers how to choose the right fish for their dish—one that’s good for their bodies AND for the environment. Actor Adrian Grenier of “Entourage” fame and a U.N. Goodwill Ambassador will discuss the Strawless Ocean initiative (#stopsucking campaign) dedicated to reducing plastics in the ocean.

This year 20 restaurants and caterers will be serving up scrumptious seafood samples – that’s the most ever! Participants include 22^nd Street Landing Restaurant, Parker’s Lighthouse, Gladstone’s Long Beach, Ports O’Call Waterfront Dining, Tender Greens and Executive Chef Bernard Ibarra of Terranea Resort, just to name a few.

Even better, this year you can attend the Sustainable Seafood Expo for free! Come to the Aquarium and meet chefs, learn from cooking demos, stop by informational booths and watch educational movies. Check out all the activities and information first, then try some samples if you like for as little as $5 each.

For those who want to purchase food, there are two ticket options. You can buy one ticket for $10, which includes two tastes with the option to purchase additional tastes for $5 each OR purchase an all-inclusive ticket for $60 that includes one taste from each seafood booth plus one drink (that’s a value of $100).

I have to admit I’m extremely biased in favor of this event. First, the event is produced by Cabrillo Marine Aquarium and its non-profit fundraising organization FRIENDS, which I work for (however I was not paid to write this article, although I did borrow some of the language I already wrote for the event) and both of which do amazing work educating people about ocean health.

Second, this topic is super important. If we are going to sustain wild, diverse and healthy ocean ecosystems into the future, we have to become smart consumers! The Expo provides great opportunities to sample new seafood options while learning how to make the best selections when dining out or cooking at home.

So I hope to see you at the Sustainable Seafood Expo on Sunday, Oct. 1 from noon to 5pm at Cabrillo Marine Aquarium. I’ll be helping with registration, make sure you stop by and say hi!

A bird with a view

One of the best parts of my mini-adventure to Anacapa Island was having the opportunity to see tons of nesting western gulls. Towards the end of April, thousands of western gulls flock to the island to mate and lay eggs. Incubating the eggs takes about one month and our trip was scheduled to coincide with hatching time! But of course, when it comes to wildlife and nature, there are no guarantees so we could only keep our fingers crossed that we might see chicks.

Western gulls nesting on Anacapa Island is truly a sight to behold. The nests are literally everywhere. There are nests right next to the trail, nests tucked away in bushes, nests next to cliffs and one nest was even on the trail! It was pretty obvious that some gulls had much better real estate tastes than others. For example, the gull in the photo above definitely had the best view, a nest overlooking Inspiration Point.

Everywhere you looked there were little white heads indicating a gull sitting on a nest. Females and males look exactly alike and take turns incubating the eggs while the other forges. As a result, we couldn’t tell if it was the mom or the dad and had to settle for calling the birds we saw “nesting parents.”

Every white dot is a nesting western gull

As we approached nests along the trail, the nesting parents seemed to have two main defense tactics. The first was to remain sitting on the nest at all costs and squawk really loud as we walked by. The second was to walk about two to five feet from the nest and squawk really loud and prepare to strike if necessary. The third and much less common defense tactic was dive bombing. This only happened on one section of the trail where the gulls seemed to be in an extra aggressive mood. My friend was walking ahead of me and a gull swooped down and almost nailed her in the head. Thankfully, we had been prepared for such an interaction and she raised her arms above her head in an X formation to protect herself. I did the same thing as one of the gulls took aim at me. I have to say, it was pretty exciting.

The parents who walked two to five feet away from their nests gave us a great opportunity to see their eggs. Most nests had two or three eggs, but on a few occasions there would only one one. They were really beautiful, a pale olive green with grayish brown splotches and speckles and almost three inches long and about two inches wide.

Western gull eggs

And thankfully we did get lucky and had the chance to see several cute and fluffy just-hatched chicks. Their coloring almost matched the eggs exactly, except the chicks were lighter and had less of an olive tone. They were so cute!

Western gull chick and eggs

Visiting Anacapa Island was awesome! If you ever have the chance to visit the island at the end of May, do it, you won’t regret it. You will be surrounded by rugged beauty, squawking gulls and the magic of nature.

The famous rock arch at Anacapa Island

I finally got to do something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time – visit Anacapa Island! (Anacapa Island is the second smallest Channel Island and it’s part of Channel Islands National Park.) It’s really not that hard to visit the island if you live in Southern California, it’s just a matter of making time for it. And if you get seasick like me, it’s important to allocate at least a day to recover – that motion sickness medicine really knocks a person out, even the non-drowsy formula.

Why have I always wanted to go to Anacapa Island? Every time I’ve seen photos of it, I’m always amazed. It’s so rugged, pristine and spectacular. Thankfully, I was able to go as a guest with a group organized by Cabrillo Marine Aquarium. (Just to be clear, I do a lot of work for the Aquarium, but in this case I went as a paying guest. And I’m not getting paid to write this article!)

The trip was on Saturday, May 20 and we all met at Channel Island Harbor in Oxnard, California to board a boat run by Island Packers. This also happened to be the same day as a triathlon and the California Strawberry Festival, so getting around Oxnard was complete insanity and one person almost missed the boat, literally!

Once the boat left the Harbor, we instantly forgot about the traffic. It was a gorgeous day featuring clear skies, calm seas and and an abundance of ocean wildlife. It takes about an hour to get to the Island and on the way we saw California brown pelicans, California sea lions, cormorants and a humpback whale!

While I always love seeing ocean wildlife, for me the best part was seeing Arch Rock come into view as we approached. There’s something about that rock that’s just mesmerizing. It’s a testament to the power of the ocean and the steadfastness of the rock. The ocean has been carving the arch for thousands of years, yet the rock still stands, and the combination is breathtaking. This set against the dark blue of the ocean and the light blue of the sky creates a truly unique and beautiful piece of natural art.

As we arrived at Anacapa Island, we had the chance to see pigeon guillemots darting about, flying from their nests built into the rocky side of the island to landing on the ocean’s surface in search of food. They were so quick, I couldn’t get a decent picture of one. Sometimes you just have to enjoy the show!

When we reached the island, the boat docked and everyone aboard disembarked one at a time. Then we climbed up 153 steps to reach the top of Anacapa. (By the way, I didn’t count the steps, that fun fact was provided in the informational materials prepared by the Aquarium.) At the top, there are amazing views in every direction. But the best part was having the chance to see hundreds of western gulls nesting all over the island. Stay tuned for more details in the next post!

Scallops to be served by 22nd Street Landing Restaurant, Photo credit: Lori Stokoe

For anyone who lives in the greater Los Angeles area and loves food and/or the ocean, the Sustainable Seafood Expo on Oct. 2 from noon to 5pm is a great event for you!

The event features scrumptious seafood samples, cooking demos, a full cash bar and great educational activities for people of all ages. Plus, Adrian Grenier of “Entourage” fame will be the Keynote Speaker! He is a major ocean advocate and founder of the Lonely Whale Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to bringing people closer to the world’s oceans through education and awareness, inspiring empathy and action for ocean health and the well-being of marine wildlife – pretty darn cool.

There will be six cooking demonstrations, including one by Executive Chef Bernard Ibarra of Terranea Resort. He will be making a delectable dish (see photo below) that features sustainable red abalone raised by Ocean Rose Abalone. This is pretty exciting because for many years, abalone has been off menus due to overfishing and depleted wild stocks. Now it is starting to appear in restaurants again as innovative abalone farms increase availability without impacting wild populations. This is a great chance to try it!

The purpose of the Sustainable Seafood Expo is summed up perfectly by the event tagline: Learn how the fish on your dish should be caught or farmed and how YOU can lessen the impact on the marine environment by making savvy seafood choices.

By attending the event, you will have great opportunities to sample new seafood options while learning how to make the best selections when dining out or purchasing seafood. Experts will be on hand to explain fisheries, habitats, management, and a host of other factors that affect each species.

I have to admit I’m extremely biased in favor of this event. First, the event is produced by Cabrillo Marine Aquarium and its non-profit fundraising organization FRIENDS, both of which I work for (however I was not paid to write this article, although I did borrow some of the language I already wrote for the event) and both of which do amazing work educating people about ocean health. Second, this topic is super important to me. If we are going to sustain wild, diverse and healthy ocean ecosystems into the future, we have to become smart consumers!

So I hope to see you at the Sustainable Seafood Expo on Oct. 2 from noon to 5pm at Crafted at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro, CA. I’ll be helping with check-in at registration, make sure you stop by and say hi!

Red abalone prepared by Chef Ibarra of Terranea Resort, Photo credit: Lori Stokoe

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Bike helmets headed to the landfill

Cleaning the unusable reusable bag bits out of my closet started something (see my last post if you don’t know what I’m talking about). After I tidied one shelf, the rest looked like a disaster so I couldn’t just stop and walk away. I kept at it and I’m happy to say that one side of the closet has been fully cleaned and sorted. Will wonders never cease!

You wouldn’t believe some of the things I found in there. (Did I mention that hoarding runs on both sides of my family?) Two of these things were bike helmets.

I don’t know about you, but there are certain things that I think I should only have to buy once in my lifetime. And in my mind, bike helmets fall into that category. So imagine my surprise when I went biking the last time and bits of gray matter got all over the backseat of my car. Disintegrating bike helmets, what?!

Now to be fair, I don’t go biking that often, approximately once every four years. Maybe I’m a wimp, but I could never get past the crotch pain. Even after purchasing a fancy gel seat and bike shorts with strategically placed padding, the post-ride soreness was too much. But I kept my helmet around so I had it when I needed it.

Did it disintegrate from lack of use? After doing some research on the internet, it turns out that bike helmets don’t last long. In fact, manufacturers recommend that you replace your helmet every five years. Is this a real safety issue or a marketing ploy? I’m not sure, but I had to laugh since I owned my bike helmet for more than 15 years when I noticed it was falling apart.

Even though both my husband’s and my bike helmet were no longer functional, I kept them around because I didn’t know what to do with them. It seemed horrible to just throw them away, what a waste! And then they sat there and sat there, until I came across them again during my cleaning / decluttering frenzy. I could no longer ignore the bike helmets.

I went online to search for recycling options and was disappointed to discover that few exist. The best option I could find involved breaking apart the helmet with a hammer and then if your local recycling program accepts foam, you can throw the gray foam part in the recycling bin. (The City of Los Angeles actually does recycle foam, but me, a bike helmet and a hammer did not sound like a good idea. I love the earth, but I also love my thumbs and fingers and know my weaknesses when it comes to hand-eye coordination.)

Even if you successfully disassemble the helmet, it’s not guaranteed that you can recycle the plastic shell because most companies don’t label whether it’s recyclable. And so with a heavy heart, but all my fingers in tact, I threw the helmets in the garbage.

It’s unacceptable that bike helmet manufacturers don’t provide a way to recycle a product that lasts only five years. If you are a recreational biker and live to the age of 70, you will have to buy approximately 10 helmets as an adult, not to mention all the helmets you have to buy as a kid when your head is still growing. Multiply 10 by 46.5 million, the number of bicyclists in the U.S. (an average of the two estimates I could find), and that’s 465 million helmets just in the U.S. alone! That’s a lot of plastic and foam headed to landfills.

As a consumer, I would be happy to pay an extra two to five dollars on the front end to help facilitate a manufacturer-based recycling program. I would also be happy to pay for shipping the helmets if necessary. Just somebody please start a recycling program and save the earth from the bike helmet scourge! I think I will write Giro a letter because I’m that annoyed. End of rant, thank you for reading.

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Reusable torn bag and bits

It turns out that some reusable bags aren’t reusable at all!

How do I know this? Well, about a year and a half ago, my husband received a free reusable bag from his new healthcare provider. The bag contained very useful information, a free pen and bonus, you get to keep the bag. We added the bag to our collection and promptly disregarded it. You see…we have a lot of reusable bags, but for some reason we always use our same four or five favorites and the rest just sit in the car.

A couple of months later, we were grabbing our reusable bags and I spotted the newer acquisition in the pile. “Let’s use this one!” I said. As we were checking out at Trader Joe’s, I started packing things as I normally do. (I don’t know about your Trader Joe’s, but the one near us is always crazy busy and you feel a certain pressure to get moving.) I lifted the new bag up to put it in the cart and in a split second, everything in the bag was on the floor. It happened so fast it took me awhile to process what had actually happened.

We never got to use that reusable bag because it didn’t even last one shopping trip. What a joke! Then I thought, maybe I should write about this and so I kept it as a reminder. Also, I wanted to take a picture of it for the post.

Well, as is frequently the case in my place (don’t judge), I put the ripped bag in the closet and promptly forgot about it. You see, hoarding runs on both sides of my family and I am an expert at putting things somewhere and then forgetting about them, things that you really don’t need to be keeping around, like an unusable reusable bag.

Now, a year and half later, the bag would not let me forget. As it was sitting there in the closet, it proceeded to disintegrate. When I went in to retrieve things, sometimes they would come out with green particles attached. Then a fine green dust started to appear in certain places. And finally, it got so bad I could no longer ignore the situation. I had to take everything out of the closet and vacuum up green dust and particles.

What is the point of this story? The point is that no company should be making reusable bags that literally disintegrate within a year and a half. That’s even worse than a plastic bag, so lame! The bag was also partially made of plastic, so I got to witness first hand in my closet what happens to plastic in the ocean. It breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces, but never really goes away.

Now that reusable green bag is headed to a landfill, a big waste. The moral of the story is…beware of crappy reusable bags. Companies should do their homework, if you want reusable bags to plaster your logo on, make sure it’s something that lasts otherwise you may just leave a bad impression. For the rest of us, it’s best to invest in canvas bags that contain no plastic and take a closer look at the next freebie you receive. It may not be worth it, even if it’s free.

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