Let's Strain the Drains April 2022
Stef Barney

Data from Let’s Strain the Drains project used in Scientific Paper

Stef Barney

In October 2019, we completed our first round of audits to show the types of litter entering stormwater drains and ultimately Port Phillip Bay from 4 different land use types (shopping centres, industrial areas, CBD areas and transport hubs).

Little did we know, that right in the middle of our 8 audits the COVID pandemic would hit and provide us with the unique opportunity to assess the impact of lockdowns on the environment.

The Let’s Strain the Drains project was funded by the Victorian State Government and delivered by Tangaroa Blue Foundation, Cleanwater Group and Sustainability Victoria with support from the Cities of Wyndham, Hobsons Bay, Moreland, Kingston, Maribyrnong and Greater Dandenong.

Many thanks to 100+ Tangaroa Blue Foundation volunteers who assisted in the auditing of the stormwater traps!

This research paper was led by Brie Sherow.

Read full paper here

Ian Anderson Rubber Crumb
Stef Barney

The Dangers of Playground Rubber Surfaces

Stef Barney

The momentum is building with another council agreeing with our rubber crumb assessment report that recycling tyres into soft fall rubber crumb is not fit-for-purpose for children’s play areas.

ABC News has written a great article talking about these dangers.
You can read the full article here

This comes on the back of the release of the Tangaroa Blue Rubber Impact Report 2021 and the ReefClean AUSMAP Rubber Crumb Loss Report 2021 which highlighted the extent of rubber crumb loss at parks along the Great Barrier Reef.

Ocean Plastic Products - are they credible or just greenwashing?
Stef Barney

Ocean Plastic Products – Credible or greenwashing? Watch the Q&A Panel Discussion

Stef Barney

Over the last few years, a variety of products claiming to be made of “ocean plastic” or “ocean bound plastic” or “potential ocean bound plastic” have started to appear on supermarket shelves and online stores.

The messaging appears to claim that we’ve solved the plastic marine pollution issue, including what to do with plastics recovered from our oceans. But misleading labelling on some products and marketing campaigns is causing consumer confusion.

This Q&A panel discussion unpacks the myths, truths and possibilities for recycling plastics recovered from our oceans with experts from the Environmental Defenders Office, the plastics industry and the NGO sector.

Our panel:

Heidi Tait – CEO, Tangaroa Blue Foundation
Kirsty Ruddock – Managing Lawyer, Safe Climate – Environmental Defenders Office
Brett Tait – Project Manager, Operation Clean Sweep
Royston Kent – CEO – BC Plastics
Warwick Hall – Vice President – Australasian Bioplastics Association Inc

You can watch the entire discussion below and hear from industry experts on the topic.

 

Ocean Plastic Products - are they credible or just greenwashing?
Stef Barney

Ocean Plastic Products – are they credible or just greenwashing?

Stef Barney

Tangaroa Blue as an organisation has been receiving lots of enquiries as to the credibility of products claiming to be made from ocean plastic.

Today, with help from the Environmental Defenders Office, we have submitted a complaint about misleading ocean plastic labelling to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

To assist consumers and AMDI partner organisations in reviewing their own understanding of this issue, we are holding a Q&A panel session with experts from the plastic industry, the Environmental Defenders Office and the NGO on Tuesday 20th December, 11:30am-12:30pm.

During this session, we will also provide a resource to guide you through creating your ACCC submission.

There are limited spots available, click here to register

Emily Larkin

Contribute to EcoBrick research

Emily Larkin

 

The Tangaroa Blue team have been finding a number of EcoBricks washing up along the Australian coast over the past few years.

For those of you who don’t know, EcoBricks are PET bottles packed solid with clean and dry used plastic. EcoBricks are made manually to a set density to sequester plastic and create reusable building blocks. In this way EcoBricks aim to contribute to a circular economy, especially in countries where plastic litter is easy to find so it can be used as a building material. The hope is that Ecobricks help clean up plastic litter and stop plastic from breaking up into microplastics in our environment.

However, some EcoBricks end up in the environment anyway.

We are trying to determine the source of the EcoBricks we collected and it would help us to know about EcoBricks in your country so we would be grateful if you could take a few minutes to answer these 10 questions.

Complete the survey here.

This researching is being undertaken thanks to ReefClean and 10% For the Ocean.

ReefClean is a project funded by the Australian Government’s Reef Trust. Launched in early 2019, the project aims to remove and prevent marine debris along the Great Barrier Reef region through to 2023.

 

 

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