Ocean contamination is one of the most serious issues facing our planet today, especially the proliferation of garbage.  Expect most people have heard about the "pacific vortex" - that huge mass of accumulated plastic and other debris.

Garbage, especially plastics, pose a huge threat to marine life and cause high mortality for turtles, seabirds, other birds, dolphins and whales.

Released balloons are a specific hazard because balloon plastic has a long life and if ingested strangles its victim, causing a slow and plainful death.

Saw this today - found it to be an amazing concept on so many levels.  Would be remarkable to see it come to be in my lifetime ... replacing oil-based asphalt with such an extraordinary system. 

This is some serious out-of-the-box thinking - next generation? 

Hopefully more money gets poured into research & development. 

This is a place to share social media items that you have found.

Some of them may spawn threads to discuss them;however, it would be awesome if this thread was really focussed on the information that you feel is worth passing on to others.

Suggestion:  Pull the links, and put a short description of why you think it is awesome.

Consider it a library.,

Why? 

After Presbytery last week I got into the start of a discussion on the Northern Gateway Project.  Some members who I suspect have connections to the petroleum agency were adamant that accurate information about the project had not been properly presented for public discussion.  They were were upset by the GC 41 decision, seeing mostly benefits that were being risked.  I would like to see a comprehensive analysis of the project and some alternatives including the following:

The new issue of the United Church Observer arrived in the mail this morning. It is encased in a plastic shrink wrap. It iscludes the annual Gifts With Vision catalogue. The GWV catalogue is on line. Bad environmental stewardship decision.

Recycle Your Electronics and help divert plastics and metals from landfill!

Bring your old, unwanted tv's, dvd players, stereos, printers, computers and more to Christ Church, 1700 Mazo Crescent, Mississauga on Saturday, September 15th, 2012 from 8:30am - 3:30pm.

You'll also help to raise funds for the life of Christ Church and its mission work throughout the community.

Our worship this year has been framed by a Good Friday that fell on Earth Day last year and a Sunday in Easter that will fall on Earth Day this year. (I wrote about this in the Toronto Star on Good Friday 2011.

I took advantage of this coincidence to plan an Easter celebration of Earth Day involving

This morning as I finish packing for Durban, South Africa, where the United Nations climate talks will take place over the next two weeks, I’m cherishing the encouraging words in a message from one of our United Church ministers:

As I prepare to join faith leaders from around the world at the United Nations climate change conference in South Africa (COP17), I am watching the cascading effect of our Canadian faith leaders’ statement and efforts of last month. Here are a few of the things that have happened since then:

Starting on August 20 in Washington, D.C., “we, the people” launched a protest to raise our citizen voices against TransCanada / Cononco Keystone XL pipeline project. People are sitting in front of the gates of the White House to bring attention to this issue. The Park Police are slapping plastic handcuffs on them and keeping them under custody.

This is a two-week campaign (Aug. 20-Sept. 3) in which leading environmentalists including Wendell Berry, Naomi Klein, and Bill McKibben will join a peaceful campaign of civil disobedience to block the approval of a dirty oil pipeline that will cross the United States. As one Canadian wrote, “This [pipeline] will make the Great Wall of China look like Tom Sawyer’s picket fence.”