Oil Train Derails in Columbia River Gorge, Rally Calls for Ban on 'Bomb Trains'
By Columbia Riverkeeper
A unit train carrying crude oil derailed near Mosier, Oregon, Friday. Mosier schools were evacuated and a large black plume of smoke filled the sky with visible flames.
Photo credit: Paloma Ayala
The train was carrying crude oil on the Union Pacific rail line. The placards on the train said 1267—signifying that the trains were carrying crude oil.
"I never thought I'd see an oil train derail and burn in my community," Brett VandenHeuvel, executive director of Columbia Riverkeeper, said. "I watched in horror as the red flames and the black plume of smoke filled the air. How many more times will we threaten our schools and neighborhoods with dangerous oil. Enough is enough."
Photo credit: Paloma Ayala
The use of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area as a fossil fuel export corridor is simply unacceptable for our communities. It's unacceptable for any community—and if it can happen here, it can happen anywhere. We call on Oregon and Washington to do everything in their power to stop the use of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area as a fossil fuel export corridor.
"This is what happens when we become a fossil fuel corridor," VandenHeuvel continued. "We need more from our states than just cleaning up spills. It's time for a commitment from Governors Brown and Inslee to prohibit the use of any state land or water for fossil fuel export."
Photo credit: Columbia Riverkeeper
This is a tragic moment that has lived in the minds of many community members for a number of years. The escalation of oil trains in the Gorge and throughout the Pacific Northwest has been opposed by many city governments, faith communities, tribal councils and community organizations precisely for the reasons we are experiencing today as a result of the Mosier derailment.
Health and air quality, water contamination risks, fire risks and community safety are all being jeopardized. As we enter the hot summer season, we are also reminded of the reality of climate change and the role that fossil fuels play in endangering the future of all who live and breathe on the planet.
In response to the derailment in Mosier, there was a rally and march in Hood River at the Overlook Memorial Park Saturday calling for an end to dangerous oil trains and asking President Obama to support a ban on high risk oil train shipments through the Columbia Gorge and other U.S. communities. They were also calling on Oregon Governor Brown, Washington state Governor Inslee and federal leaders to deny proposed oil train terminals in the Pacific Northwest, proposals that would dramatically increase dangerous oil trains through the Pacific Northwest.
Photo credit: Columbia Riverkeeper
"The only silver lining is that this dramatic derailment should spell the end of the proposed Tesoro oil terminal in Vancouver," VandenHeuvel concluded. "I can't imagine how anyone could approve that project, and invite more trains, after this terrible derailment."
UPDATE: The City of Mosier passed an emergency motion calling on the Union Pacific Railroad to remove all oil from damaged cars before rail traffic is reopened. Despite the resolution, Union Pacific pushed the derailed and damaged cars, some full of oil, to the side of the tracks and started the rail.
Watch here:
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Members of the San Carlos Apache Nation protest to protect parts of Oak Flat from a copper mining company on July 22, 2015 in Washington, DC. Brendan Smialowski / AFP / Getty Images
In yet another attack on the environment before leaving office, the Trump administration is seeking to transfer ownership of San Carlos Apache holy ground in Oak Flat, Arizona, to a copper mining company.
<p>The administration pushed to finish the environmental review process, a necessary step to transfer ownership to copper mining company Resolution Copper, and its two parent companies Rio Tinto and BHP, to December 2020, almost a full year ahead of the planned completion. </p><p>"The Trump administration is cutting corners and doing a rushed job just to take care of Rio Tinto," Democratic Arizona representative Raúl Grijalva told <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/nov/24/trump-mining-arizona-holy-land-oak-flat-tribes" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Guardian</a>. Grijalva has been outspoken in his <a href="https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/2020/11/16/rio-tinto-copper-mine-not-protect-oak-flat-look-australia/6245846002/" target="_blank">opposition</a> to the mine plans.<br></p><p>"And the fact they are doing it during Covid makes it even more disgusting. Trump and Rio Tinto know the tribes' reaction would be very strong and public under normal circumstances but the tribes are trying to save their people right now," Grijalva said.</p>
<p>Oak Flat is a high desert wonderland full of rock spires, choppy hills, ancient oaks, medicinal plants and long stretches of desert flatland. It contains many Indigenous archaeological sites dating back 1,500 years, and is near Tonto National Forest, the largest of six national forests in Arizona. For centuries, the Apache have considered the site holy, using the area for ceremonies. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.</p><p>However, what is estimated to be one of the world's largest copper deposits resides 7,000 feet underneath the site. If mining proceeds, more than 11 miles of Indigenous sacred sites, burial grounds and petroglyphs would be destroyed, The Guardian reported. Not only that, but Resolution Copper intends to extract 1.4 metric tons of ore, which would create a crater stretching almost two miles wide and 1,000 feet deep. </p><p>Rio Tinto, the world's second largest mining company, is no stranger to controversy. The Anglo-Australian company was <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/top-rio-tinto-executive-says-iron-ore-boom-unravelled-indigenous-ties-20201125-p56hwk.html" target="_blank">recently involved</a> in destroying a 46,000-year-old Aboriginal site in order to mine iron ore, against the wishes of the land's traditional owners, the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura people. </p>
<p>In 2014, a proposal called the Southeastern Arizona Land Exchange was tacked onto the end of a spending bill to exchange federal land for privately owned land for Resolution Copper. Several Arizona legislators supported it, despite<a href="https://www.energy.senate.gov/services/files/bd432593-9e7c-4f18-8a61-4e74bc6edb34" target="_blank"> opposition from regional Arizona tribes</a>.<span></span></p><p>Currently there is no federal law that allows control of ancestral lands outside of Native reservation boundaries. </p><p>After the environmental review process is complete, the transfer must occur within 60 days, potentially before President-elect Joe Biden's Jan. 20 inauguration. </p>
<p>The move marks one of many attempts by the outgoing administration to keep pushing for <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-environmental-rollbacks-election-2648378494.html" target="_blank">environmental rollbacks</a> as it leaves office, including <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-anwr-oil-leases-2648954756.html" target="_blank">opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge </a><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-anwr-oil-leases-2648954756.html"> the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge </a>for drilling and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-migratory-bird-killing-protection-2644987725.html" target="_blank">weakening migratory bird protections</a>.</p><p>"We are looking at the destruction of some of the Apache's most significant cultural and historic sites with this project," Kathryn Leonard, an Arizona state historic preservation officer, told The Guardian. </p><p>"Our preservation laws are not set up to prevent this level of loss. It weighs heavily on me."</p>
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A fish farm off the coast of Tasmania. CW03070 / E+ / Getty Images
Around 50,000 farmed salmon swam free on Monday after a fire melted part of their enclosure off the coast of Tasmania.
<p>The salmon's escape has prompted concerns from local environmentalists, who are worried about the impact of the farmed fish on native <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildlife" target="_self">wildlife</a> and ecosystems. While the farm's owners insist that impact will be minimal and the fish will be quickly eaten by seals or caught by recreational fishers, others disagree.</p><p>"It's like claiming a sewage spill is all good because it releases nutrients into the food chain," <a href="https://neighboursoffishfarming.org.au/" target="_blank">Neighbours of Fish Farming</a> president Peter George told <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/nov/24/fears-for-environment-after-50000-fish-escape-salmon-farm-in-tasmania" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>.</p>
<p>The fire that allowed the fish to escape broke out early Monday morning at an offshore enclosure owned by Huon Aquaculture, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-11-23/salmon-breakout-after-fire-huon-aquaculture-tasmania/12912222" target="_blank">Australia's ABC News reported</a>. The fire damaged about a third of a pen by burning and melting the pen both above and below the waterline, allowing the fish to escape. The company estimates that between 50,000 and 52,000 fish weighing four kilograms (approximately 8.8 pounds) each got away.<br></p><p>Huon Aquaculture does not yet know what caused the blaze.</p><p>"We have electrical equipment on our pens but in 35 years of farming we have never had an electrical fire on a fish pen so the cause has baffled us," CEO Peter Bender told the <a href="https://www.portnews.com.au/story/7025098/fish-farm-fire-sets-52k-salmon-free-in-tas/" target="_blank">Australian Associated Press</a>.<br></p>
<p>The escaped fish account for less than one percent of Huon's stocks, and the company has no plans to recapture them, according to The Guardian. But company representatives were confident the fish would not harm Tasmanian ecosystems.</p><p>Pene Snashall, the corporate communications and community relations manager at Huon Aquaculture, pointed to a 2018 <a href="https://www.imas.utas.edu.au/" target="_blank">Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies</a> (IMAS) report that found that escaped farmed fish tend not to eat native fauna.</p><p>"Farmed salmon generally don't appear to feed on native species. While some fish did survive for some months, this did not necessary mean that these fish were thriving," Snashall told The Guardian.</p>
<p>But environmentalists disagreed.</p><p>"One IMAS [Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies] study found 15% of escaped salmon lived off wild fish – that's 7,800 from just this escape, and they happen regularly," Laura Kelly of <a href="https://www.et.org.au/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Environment Tasmania</a> told The Guardian. "Then there's the animal welfare issues – with thousands of animals just starving to death. Huon needs to follow global investment patterns and get their feedlots out of the ocean and onto land."</p><p>And competition for food is not the only concern.</p><p>"There is also the worry these introduced species will [be] establishing populations in the wild," Dr. Christine Materia, also of Neighbours of Fish Farming, told <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-11-24/salmon-escaped-from-fish-farm-caught-by-tasmanian-anglers/12914804" target="_blank">ABC News</a>.</p>
<p>IMAS associate professor Jeremy Lyle said that evidence did show that the impact of fish farm escapes like this one was "not that significant," but he also said any release of non-native species could pose problems.</p><p>"Any event like this is of some concern," he told ABC News. "Keeping introduced animals contained is more desirable."</p><p>The escape has brought out lots of recreational fishing aficionados to try and catch some of the salmon. Materia thought the company should compensate them for their efforts at containing the escape. Lyle, meanwhile, asked anyone who caught a fish to report the contents of its stomach to IMAS for research.</p>
<p><em>Correction: This article has been revised to reflect that each fish that got away weighed an estimated four kilograms.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Jobs and justice are two key areas where Biden can focus attention to push transformative climate action. DisobeyArt / Getty Images
By Steve Trent
Joe Biden's election is a huge positive in a year that has been extremely difficult across the globe. I speak for a vast number of people who watched anxiously from outside the United States when I heartily thank those who mobilized, campaigned and voted to make it happen. Your hard work affects us all.
But we're not at the end of the line. Far from it.
<p>Biden shows promise, but there can be no backsliding and or watering down. In fact, the ambition needs to grow. Now is the time for truly bold vision, leadership and action. For instance, Biden has said repeatedly that he will not ban fracking, a destructive and polluting practice that uses high-pressure injections of water, chemicals and sand to suck yet more fossil fuels from the ground. Instead he turns to carbon capture to offset these emissions, a plan that relies on untested technology and does nothing to deal with fracking's <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/08/fracking-boom-tied-to-methane-spike-in-earths-atmosphere/" target="_blank">methane release</a>, <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fracking-can-contaminate-drinking-water/" target="_blank">water pollution</a> and <a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/3/12/e1603021" target="_blank">health issues</a>.</p><p>He can and must do better. And there are two key areas where he can focus to help push transformative climate action: jobs and justice.</p><h1>Jobs</h1><p>The fact that Biden ran and won with a proposal to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 highlights one key aspect he got right: A transformation to sustainability means innovation, new livelihoods, revitalization and importantly, jobs.</p><p>The green economy in the United States already <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2219927-us-green-economy-has-10-times-more-jobs-than-the-fossil-fuel-industry/" target="_blank">employs</a> 10 times as many people as the fossil fuel industry, and Biden's plan specifically focuses on the economic opportunities that tackling climate change will bring.<span></span></p>
<p>But climate action is not a flail that we must use to flog ourselves in penitence, seeking absolution for past sins. Action for our planet creates untold opportunities for us. It will provide different ways of living that will reimagine and reinvigorate our relationship with the natural world, making us <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2017/02/nature-fix-brain-happy-florence-williams/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">happier</a> and <a href="https://ejfoundation.org/reports/why-ban-commercial-wildlife-markets" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">healthier</a>.</p><p>It will give us livelihoods that are truly sustainable, not based on the myth of infinite growth on a finite planet.</p><p>Biden's plan for net zero in energy production by 2035 is a good example of how a climate-smart jobs boom could work. At present <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/07/30/biden-calls-100-percent-clean-electricity-by-2035-heres-how-far-we-have-go/?arc404=true" target="_blank">62%</a> of energy in the United States comes from fossil fuels. Wind, hydroelectric and solar power are all growing industries, and renewable energy is expected to be the biggest global energy source <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/nov/10/renewable-energy-covid-19-record-growth-2020" target="_blank">by 2025</a>. Shifting U.S. energy production to net zero will create solid, reliable and well-paid jobs across the nation as renewable energy truly takes off. Funding training to enable workers to shift from fossil fuels will be a key part of that transition.</p>
<h1>Justice</h1><p> Biden has also referenced the need for equality in climate action, setting a goal for disadvantaged communities to receive 40% of all the clean energy and infrastructure benefits his plan would generate.</p><p>While this goal is a relatively small step for a big problem, the recognition is important. Ninety-nine percent of all deaths from weather-related disasters occur in the <a href="http://www.ghf-ge.org/human-impact-report.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">world's 50 least developed countries</a> — countries that have contributed less than 1% of global carbon emissions.</p><p>In every nation around the world, including the United States, this is played out again on a smaller scale. We can't continue to allow the poorer, marginalized and more vulnerable communities to bear the brunt of a crisis they did not cause. </p><p>The U.S. government is uniquely placed to drive forward international progress on climate.</p><p>Biden's climate plan <a href="https://joebiden.com/climate-plan/" target="_blank">explicitly includes</a> environmental justice as a key target. Within the United States this encompasses standing up to polluters who disproportionately harm marginalized communities.</p>
<p>The United States must reduce its own emissions and maintain strong diplomacy with its international partners. This leadership will allow the Biden-Harris administration to champion environmental justice around the world.</p><p>The <a href="https://twitter.com/FijiPM/status/1324941240731840512" target="_blank">swift congratulations</a> on Biden's victory offered by Frank Bainimarama, the Fijian prime minister, show what can now be achieved. The United States being back in a leading role on global climate action means that small island nations, responsible for minimal emissions but suffering outsized, unjust climate impacts, may have a chance of survival. <a href="https://ejfoundation.org/what-we-do/climate/protecting-climate-refugees" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Tens of millions</a> of people have already been displaced by climate breakdown, a grave global environmental injustice. The new administration has a chance to reverse this.</p><p>As a major developed economy and one of the worst emitters, action from the United States would put pressure on others — such as China — to do more. Meaningful progress within the United States and European Union, and strong, progressive voices from both parties at the negotiation table could be the change we need.</p><p>The votes for this election have been counted, but now the real work begins. We will all be needed — both in and outside the United States — to show again and again that we are watching and we will fight for our future, and our planet, with everything we have.</p>
<p class=""><em></em></p><p><a href="https://therevelator.org/author/stevetrent/" target="_blank"><em>Steve Trent </em></a><em>is executive director and co-founder of the </em><a href="https://ejfoundation.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Environmental Justice Foundation</em></a><em> and has more than 30 years experience in environmental and human rights campaigning. He also co-founded WildAid serving as president for over a decade, and leading WildAid's work in China and India. </em><em><em><a href="https://ejfoundation.org/" target="_blank">https://ejfoundation.org</a></em></em></p><p><em><em><a href="https://ejfoundation.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"></a></em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://therevelator.org/biden-climate-plan-trent/" target="_blank">The Revelator</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Florida Wildlife Federation / NBC2News / YouTube
In a dramatic rescue captured on camera, a Florida man ran into a pond and pried open an alligator's mouth in order to rescue his beloved puppy, all without dropping his cigar.
<p>The protagonist of the video is 74-year-old Richard Wilbanks of Estero, Florida, who risked his hands in order to save his three-month old Cavalier King Charles spaniel named Gunner from the jaws of an almost four-foot alligator.</p><p>"It was like a missile," Willbanks told the <a href="https://eu.news-press.com/story/news/local/2020/11/23/florida-man-saves-puppy-from-alligator-jaws-shares-update-dog-estero-backyard-camera/6391734002/" target="_blank">Fort Myers News-Press</a> of the alligator. "We were only about 3 feet away from it, but it struck like a snake. It had Gunner in a vise grip and I just rushed in."</p>
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9874812d72046531a6d9d993089b8f1d"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9boZ_k6-oqM?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
<p>Wilbanks told <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/11/21/us/puppy-alligator-rescue-trnd/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a> that grabbing a hold of the gator was the easy part. The hard part was prying its jaws open. After Wilbanks managed to free Gunner, the alligator then bit down on his hands, the Fort Myers News-Press reported.</p><p>"He had one little puncture wound, and... my hands were just chewed up," Wilbanks told <a href="https://www.winknews.com/2020/11/20/man-saves-pet-dog-from-alligators-jaws-in-estero-encounter-caught-on-video/?__cf_chl_captcha_tk__=cc13405351fae3a243c02dd9e37f3e432f802fbf-1606234364-0-ARvmRjR89RfVKXdnFuzyZ5Yn8WdIOvD01mBmS8-2MyijX8YgP_VFWT4liE-ixtvoyt6lrPY7EIjd4y8bt1aPBRkGJ5GsCuNDQWCvV_Z411Oe1gyYmXd6HNL7Rfmdt6QwMkeehHAxCepa91ByjkPSfCbSbCtHjpiFlXwTs25qcTQk-VaxSBkUTtMnv7A_v8JXuYPTbJvsbL6mN_gGUr-PC2rY0TtiaqwR4gnc_U9jQNUAqAblzAZyjaSMh3xlcH1SIYnGUgVVOv1h-y7i9gTZlLWCxg65Vae05DMykRzD8KRoebzurkDewW6Kr0M-ysmyBiDmpknvlhfmGr344pJ88e3lNTyVa8AlG1d8-TzNGKV8I5RQEzEUfh2nkrX4iEMy6XUmNKJf6LpAfk5KvdtCa-MUHS8PhgO03NksXd5ueGltbfNIIpvoremdtUl2FLvcHftGL-gDjSgOUeN9aK8j4d2O-lQp5wFMVjnAiKWTclWVz4WLdmEyT6oL7E_vr4LEQalMGcElY-kSXbHqkn8Dr-E5MwkZoQ13rHihUCkCD67c8_KuMFbFXjDQVuPUrBKdQB16wOLUgXGW8TBvXuWoQn3c50FVYKRj3VryxD_71CtzJheTXKN-bmzDXX4VFuX-Xg" target="_blank">WINK</a>.</p><p>After tending to his hands, Wilbanks rushed Gunner to the animal hospital, where he was treated for a puncture wound, the Fort-Myers News Press reported. However, he has now fully recovered.</p><p>Wilbanks has learned from the incident. He has bought Gunner a new leash, and plans to keep him at least 10 feet from the pond at all times.</p><p>He has "a new leash on life," Wilbanks told the Fort Myers News-Press.</p>
<p>Education is also the reason that footage of the rescue was made public. Wilbanks' property borders a nature reserve, and a partnership between the <a href="https://floridawildlifefederation.org/" target="_blank">Florida Wildlife Federation</a> (FWF) and the <a href="https://fstopfoundation.org/" target="_blank">fSTOP Foundation</a> put cameras in the area to monitor <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildlife" target="_self">wildlife</a>. All told, there are 17 cameras in 15 backyards in Estero.</p><p>The purpose of the project, called Sharing the Landscape, is to teach residents how to live safely and respectfully with wild <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/animals/" target="_self">animals</a>.</p><p>"We live on a shared landscape," FWF regional policy director Meredith Budd told WINK. "We don't just want to tolerate wildlife, but, rather, we want to thrive with wildlife on a shared landscape."</p><p>The project decided to share the video of the rescue, which was captured late in October, in order to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.</p><p>"If we understand how to deal with them [wildlife], how to interact with them. The outcome is always positive," William Freund of the fSTOP Foundation told <a href="https://nbc-2.com/news/local/2020/11/21/lee-county-man-puppy-from-alligators-jaws-in-estero/" target="_blank">NBC2</a>.</p>
<p>Wilbanks and his wife Louise have loved living so close to nature, and their close call hasn't changed their point of view. Willbanks told WINK he did not call the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) because he understood that the alligator was just doing what he needed to do to survive.</p><p>"It gives us a new appreciation," Louise told WINK. "We do need to be aware they are wild animals. They're not here for our benefit. We're very lucky to share this space with them."</p><p>Wilbanks told the Fort Myers News-Press that the alligator was still swimming in the pond.</p><p>FWC told WINK that alligators rarely cause serious injuries in Florida, but that pet owners should take proper precautions.</p><p>"We encourage everyone to take precautionary measures, particularly those who live or recreate near the water. Dogs and cats are similar in size to the natural prey of alligators," the FWC said in a statement.</p>
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Imagesines / iStock / Getty Images Plus
Jean-Marc Neveu and Olivier Civil never expected to find themselves battling against disposable mask pollution.
When they founded their recycling start-up Plaxtil in 2017, it was textile waste they set their sights on. The project developed a process that turned fabrics into a new recyclable material they describe as "ecological plastic."
<p>But almost as soon as face coverings became standard attire to help fight the spread of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/covid-19">COVID-19</a>, the pair noticed disposable masks strewn around the streets and parks of their town, Chatellerault, France.</p>
<p>"We said to ourselves: 'It's not possible to leave this pollution,'" Neveu recalls. "We thought, we've found a solution for fabrics, [so] maybe we can also find a solution to reuse the masks."</p><p>In July, the company began one of the earliest face mask recycling programs and has since processed more than 100,000.</p><p>Neveu and Civil don't deal with special medical-grade masks used by healthcare professionals, which tend to be disposed of separately as clinical waste in hospitals. And although they can process fabric face coverings, they focus on disposable ones which are plastic-based.</p><p>As many of the mass-produced fabrics they were used to working with contain large amounts of plastic fibers, they were able to tweak their existing process to deal with the plastic composition of the masks.</p><p>Sections of the mask pass under UV light to kill any remaining virus particles and are fed into a whirring shredder. The scraps are then mixed with additional plastic and formed into new products to help fight coronavirus transmission. This includes visor attachments, mask strap extenders and door-openers for nursing home residents. </p>
Mounting Piles of Waste
<p>It is not only the streets of Chatellerault where pandemic pollution is piling-up, but also the world's beaches and oceans. Once there, they can take up to 450 years to degrade and disappear.</p><p>Esther Röling, co-organizer of the annual Adventure Clean Up Challenge held on Hong Kong Island, has seen this waste firsthand. In October the sports challenge pitted teams against one another in a competition to remove trash from 13 hard-to-reach coastal areas around the city.</p><p>They find tons of both disposable and reusable masks, said Röling. "You wonder how it ended up there. Was it just thrown on the ground? Or was it in a garbage bag that broke open?"</p><p>Almost 10,000 kilometers away in Antibes on the sunny French Riviera, it's a similar picture. For the past few months, divers and clean-up volunteers working with an ocean clean-up non-profit called Operation Mer Propre have been collecting an increasing number of masks found on land and in the sea.</p><p>"Since the beginning of the lockdown when we started to count, we've reached 800, 900, [and now in total] 1000 masks," said co-founder Joko Peltier. </p><p>According to <a href="https://unctad.org/news/growing-plastic-pollution-wake-covid-19-how-trade-policy-can-help" target="_blank">UN estimates</a>, up to 75% of all coronavirus-related plastic could end up as waste in oceans and landfills.</p>The Limits of Recycling
<p>Yet not all are convinced the recycling of this waste is possible on a global scale. </p><p>"What those citizen groups are doing is really beneficial but once they collect it, it should just go to a landfill or an incinerator. They shouldn't necessarily expect it to get recycled," said Jonathan Krones, an industrial ecologist and visiting assistant professor of environmental studies at Boston College.</p><p>That's because mask recycling programs like Plaxtil are few and far between and most don't have the benefit of a readily adaptable production process. </p><p>Even in countries with solid recycling infrastructure, he says, the system is designed to separate out specific types of waste like bottles or cardboard.</p><p>"I imagine that it would be technically feasible to develop a separation process to filter out masks, but there simply aren't enough of them to make that economical," he said.</p><p>Collection is a big hurdle, he adds. Since each mask only weighs a fraction of a gram and they're scattered on roads or mixed with other trash, it is difficult and costly. </p><p>"You need a lot of raw material of the right quality to make investing in the recycling technology and the recycling system worthwhile," he said.<span></span><br></p>Hemp, Sugar Cane and Sustainable Alternatives
<p>Some projects are instead addressing the material used to make masks.</p><p>French company Geochanvre have created a mask made primarily from hemp, while in Australia, researchers at the Queensland University of Technology are experimenting with a disposable product made from agricultural waste. </p><p>Biodegradable options are exciting alternatives to reduce the fossil fuels needed for the creation of plastic-based masks, said Krones, but they don't absolve the wearer from the responsibility of what happens afterwards. </p><p>Bio-based masks often need their own composing solutions, he explains, because in landfill they can produce high amounts of the greenhouse gas methane when anaerobic bacteria feeds on the organic material. Methane is known to be significantly more potent than carbon dioxide.</p><p>"I think as long as we have in our mind that we want to have disposability, we're going to have to wrestle with a variety of different sorts of environmental tradeoffs," he said, adding that reusable, fabric masks are the best option available to most people.</p><p>Precimask is developing a clear face covering with an optional visor made from hard plastic, designed to be long-lasting.<br></p><p>Air enters either side of the cheeks through a technology normally found in pool filters and car exhaust systems, said company spokeswoman Juliette Chambet.</p><p>"We wanted to make ceramic-based filters that would be washable and cleanable, which would allow them to be reused as many times as desired without having to buy a new consumable or produce waste," she said. </p><p>Ultimately, encouraging mask wearers to think about the entire lifecycle of a mask is key, explains Neveu. </p><p>"We want people who put on the masks to realize that they are also responsible for the waste, he said. "It's not inevitable that this [pandemic] will become an environmental catastrophe.</p><p><em>Reposted with permission from </em><em><a href="https://www.dw.com/en/covid-19-recycling-pollution-trash-pandemic/a-55707817" target="_blank">Deutsche Welle</a>.</em><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/r/entryeditor/2649032193#/" target="_self"></a></p>From Your Site Articles
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