Your Newsletter

April 2008 E-news: Happy Earth Month!

Earth Day (officially April 22) is just around the corner! We hope you'll join us for our events this weekend, as they promise to be a lot of fun, and of great benefit to the environment!

Fishing Gear = Electricity?

We’ve been doing cleanups along the NH coastline since 2001. While we find lots of litter left by beachgoers, we also find ocean-based debris. This includes washed-up fishing gear, such as rope, monofilament fishing line, and lobster traps (lobster traps are not removed from the beach due to state laws.)
Once we partnered with Dr. Jenna Jambeck at the Environmental Research Group at the University of New Hampshire and did more data analysis, we realized ocean-based debris made up more than 50% of the debris at many of the beaches! Last summer, we started working with Dr. Ken La Valley, a commercial fisheries specialist with NH Sea Grant. Ken had heard frustration from fishermen that they were getting hung up on “ghost gear.” “Ghost gear” is gear lost at sea. While it is not being actively fished, it still continues to catch fish and other marine life. Fishermen don’t like to get caught on gear as it can damage boats and their equipment, and waste their already limited fishing time. We don’t like ghost gear out in the ocean because of its potential effects on whales and other marine life. As part of our new Marine Debris to Energy Project, funded by NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and working with Jenna, Ken, and information technology experts with UNH Cooperative Extension, we’re encouraging fishermen to retrieve that gear found at sea. We are partnering with Waste Management and the Yankee Fishermen’s Co-op in Seabrook to provide a dumpster in which the fishermen can deposit the gear. And what happens to all that gear? It will get trucked to a waste-to-energy facility, combusted and turned into electricity! This is only one part of this exciting project. The project also includes installing monofilament fishing line recycling bins at local marinas and boat ramps. Monofilament takes about 600 years to break down, so it is important that it is recycled or disposed of properly! The project will also help expand our cleanup and outreach efforts. A new web site is being designed that will allow both fishermen and cleanup volunteers to enter debris they find, and that is linked to a GIS mapping component. This means that you will be able to visit the web site, and download maps of where cleanups have occurred, fishermen have found ghost gear, and more. We will also be working with a local commercial fisherman this summer to do underwater mapping of debris along the NH coast, and working with other educators to develop K-12 educational activities based on the web site. We look forward to informing you more about other components of this project, including ways you can be involved, in the coming months! To Learn More Attend our Marine Debris to Energy Kickoff, when we’ll be unveiling the dumpster at the Fishermen’s Co-op in Seabrook: Friday, April 18, 10 AM Click here for a fact sheet about the project Photos courtesy Ken La Valley & Jenna Jambeck

Conservation Tips

In honor of Earth Day, we hope you'll commit to making one simple eco-friendly behavior change this week. Maybe you'll find it's so easy, you can work it into your daily routine!

Here are some easy ways to make a difference:

Bring a reusable travel mug when you get a coffee, instead of getting a disposable cup. Many places even give a discount. You might even want to keep an extra mug in your car or office for when the mood strikes.
Most people have a large tote bag hanging around at home. Try bringing this to the grocery store next time you shop. Even bringing one reuseable bag will likely save several plastic bags per trip!
Speaking of plastic bags, a way to reuse them is by picking up after your dog!
Try a reusable coffee filter for your coffee pot instead of paper filters.
Turn off any surge protectors in your home when you go to bed at night to reduce "phantom" energy use.
Buy local and in season whenever possible. Seacoast residents can check out http://www.seacoasteatlocal.org/index.html for a Seacoast Local Foods Resource Guide.
Reuse everything at least once.