Shannon College

Hey all! While we try to reduce our personal use of plastics, there are many groups that are doing great things to keep plastic pollution out of our environment. One of the speakers at last year's Texas Plastic Pollution Symposium was Jace Tunnell of Nurdle Patrol. Nurdles are the tiny little plastic pellets, phase one of the creation of new plastics. They are about the size of a styrofoam bead, and move just as easily as one. Normally one plant processes nurdles, then ships them to other facilities to be manufactured into larger plastic items. The major issue is that because nurdles are so small, a lot of them get lost along the way, increasing microlitter in our environments. Nurdle patrol invites people from all over to do ten minute surveys of an area they are visiting while collecting and counting as many nurdles as they find. Nurdle patrol then takes this data and organizes it to see if we can pinpoint places of impact. They've used this data as evidence that many facilities aren't fulfilling their commitments to the environment by prevent nurdle escapes, and have huge success so far thanks to citizen scientists. If you want to learn more, you can check out the facebook page for Nurdle Patrol, or you can check out their website here: https://nurdlepatrol.org/Forms/Home/

If you are new to PFE and looking for alternatives, try checking shops like packagefreeshop.com for inspiration. They are one of my go to places for new ideas of how to eliminate single use plastics in my life. Even if I dont purchase their items, it still gives me a starting point and motivation to change. There has been a bit of controversy behind some of the companies they support, but with anything it's always good to do your own research and find what companies align most closely with your intentions. Even better they, are having a different sale every day for all of plastic free July to help you buy quality products for your new lifestyle changes, so definitely a good source to watch for super cheap and easy alternatives for your lifestyle changes!   

Day 1: Here we go! Thank you to all who have already signed up! Don't forget, you can earn extra points by inviting your friends, family, and coworkers! You've already made a huge impact so far! Note that one of the community challenge actions is to "host a community clean-up"-keep in mind, you can still do this with social distancing, or go solo! Make sure you take extra precautions to stay safe-wear gloves, a mask if necessary, sunscreen, stay hydrated, and DEFINITELY watch out for poison ivy! You can track how much trash you've collected, and we can count it toward the zoo's goal of collecting 10,000lbs of trash this year! What a great way to create a better world for animals!

Camouflaged trash in the Trinity River creek, visible from the Flamingo Bridge

Look at those incredible WOA bird keepers making strides before we even start! Awesome work everyone! Don't forget, you can send invites to your coworkers that haven't signed up yet, and earn more points if they click through your link!

Hey everybody! Thanks for joining this year's Plastic Free Ecochallenge! I'm looking forward to learning about alternatives for single use plastics, and how each of you are making a difference and creating a better world for animals! We'll have some additional challenges this year with a global pandemic lurking, but this can lead to some inspiring creativity! Make sure you check the team feed often as I'll be posting more about ways I've reduced plastic in my life, as well as interesting articles surrounding the plastic pollution crisis. I can't wait to get this started!