LItter Harms Wildlife

This story from the Daily Record in Scotland breaks my heart:

Seal pup saved after horror injury as litter fears worsen

Feb 27 2011 Exclusive by Mike Merritt, Sunday Mail

AN injured seal has had a miracle recovery as experts warn they are under threat because of a rising tide of litter off the Scottish coast.
Specialist vets say they are shocked at the increasing number of life-threatening injuries caused by balloons, discarded fishing gear and plastic bags.
In the latest incident an eight-week-old seal pup narrowly escaped death after his neck became tangled in a discarded fishing line.
The pup - nicknamed Ringo by staff at the Highland Seal Hospital in John O'Groats- suffered the injury as he ventured inshore looking for fish.
Hospital manager Jamie Dyer said: "Marine litter and discarded fishing tackle is a real problem. Balloons are also now a big issue as well - we've found a lot in seals' stomachs.
"Discarded plastic bags are a growing problem - turtles eat them thinking they are squid or jellyfish.
"We save about 30 seals a year and some have terrible injuries. Ringo is lucky to have his head still on.
"We are hopeful he can pull through. In addition to the neck wound, which is healing, he also has liver and gall bladder problems. He'll be with us for while."
Ringo was found exhausted and close to death by ferry terminal worker Marion Jack at Gills Bay in Caithness.
He had a gaping 14in wound, 2in wide and nearly 2in deep, just a fraction from his spine.
He was given his name by hospital staff because of the almost circular wound around his neck.
Ringo has been given ultrasound scans, antibiotics and pain-killing injections to help him survive.
Jamie added: "He's very lucky - the wound was close to severing the tendon by his spine. He then would have lost motor control and the ability to keep his head out of the water.
"I have never seen such injuries before where a young seal has survived. The fishing line almost decapitated him.
"But he is making steady progress. The wound is very nasty but hopefully he will recover fully."

Litter Gets Really Smelly

Littered Plastic Bottles

Occasionally I will go out on a Sunday morning and pick up litter along Newsom Station Road. I don't enjoy doing this, but I feel good about ridding the earth of just a small amount of trash.

My husband gets mad when I bring home discarded, stinking plastic bottles, but then, he gets mad at a lot of things.

Edible Litter

When I am out enjoying planet earth on my treks, I find lots of food products, tossed or dropped as litter and trash.

Well, maybe the Tootsie Roll Pop is not marketed as food. It's only 60 calories and 10 grams of sugar. Anyway, I hate to see a Tootsie Pop tossed on the ground.

What Not To Leave on a Public Bus

When I first started blogging, I had a real job in publishing and worked on West End Avenue in Nashville. Occasionally, I rode the bus to work to reduce my own footprint on our planet.

I enjoyed riding the bus because I could read books or magazines, listen to my music on my iPod or talk with fellow passengers.

But I never understood why people would leave behind their garbage. I can understand leaving behind a newspaper, as others could read it, but why leave behind the remains of your fast food meal?

Sometimes Litter Can Be Used

Not everything I find by the side of the road is “trash.” Sometimes, we find things, like car flags, baseball caps, screwdrivers and clothes. Baby items are very popular. I'm always putting pacifiers in the trash bags. Once I found this child's rattler.

If it’s something we want or need, we’ll pick it up and take it home. I once found a red rubber dog bone that became my late dog’s favorite toy. He played with it for years until it fell apart by his constant chewing. After tossing it out in our trash, we had to buy him another one. We sometimes find money, too. That’s litter we don’t mind finding and keeping.

An ATM for Used Electronics

Here's a great idea as reported on tgdaily.com, where you can read the entire article:

Phone recycling machines set to appear on street corners

Posted on Wed, 02/23/2011 - 09:29 by Kate Taylor

How many old phones and other gadgets do you have sitting around at the back of a drawer? You could soon turn them into instant ready cash - and incidentally help the planet - simply by dropping them into a slot.

EcoATM has been trialling its machines in several locations, and has now won investment from Coinstar and a grant from the National Science Foundation to advance the technology and get the machines out more widely. It plans to widen the range of devices the machines can handle.

40 More Tons of Flood Debris To Be Collected

Those amazing people at the Harpeth River Watershed Association will clean up 40 more tons of flood debris this spring. Click on the link above to volunteer your time or money to this great cause.