Submitted by Friends of the San Juans
Talking Trash is an exciting workshop hosted by the Marine Resources Committee during Earth Week. The event will be held on April 25, at Brickworks in Friday Harbor from 5–7 p.m. The workshop is part of the Plastic Free Salish Sea campaign which aims to share ideas about how to reduce waste and reuse what you already have. It will be fun, educational, and positive.
Every day single-use plastics wash up on local beaches and are ingested by birds and wildlife life because they confuse it for prey or they get tangled up in it. Since China and India have refused America’s mixed recyclables, only limited plastic waste generated on the island can be recycled putting a huge burden on our solid waste management services. Learn about the positive ways we can all contribute to reducing our waste and protecting our beautiful islands and the surrounding fragile waters of the Salish Sea.
Workshop participants will also get to see the final art pieces that will be created by local artists from the litter collected during the Great Islands Clean-up and see first-hand an artistic reuse of garbage found in the marine environment.
The Talking Trash workshop series was started on Orcas Island by Orcas Recycling Services. The current workshop on San Juan Island will be led by Karin Roemers-Kleven, Chair of the San Juan County Marine Resource Committee, and lead of the MRC’s subcommittee addressing marine debris committee called “Plastic Free Salish Sea.” Presenters will include Mark Herrenkohl, San Juan County’s Solid Waste Manager, Nikyta Palmasani from Lopez Island Solid Waste Disposal District, Frances Robertson, San Juan County’s Marine Program Coordinator and Katie Fleming from Friends of the San Juans.
Last year, Orcas Island resident, videographer and MRC member Carl Davis created a film to inspire people around the Salish Sea to reuse and reduce titled “Plastic Free Salish Sea.” Watch the film and learn more about the Plastic Free Salish Sea campaign at www.plasticfreesalishsea.org.
To learn more about the Marine Resources Committee visit sanjuanco.com/535/Marine-Resources-Committee.
For information about Friends of the San Juans visit sanjuans.org.
