Last month, before the June 6 start of the Annapolis to Bermuda Race and the June 20 start of the Newport Bermuda Race, we asked offshore sailors how they dispose of their garbage. We posed the question: “Can you encounter a pod of dolphins, watch a beautiful sunset, witness the wonders of the Milky Way at sea, and then whip your garbage overboard as if it does not matter?”
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Graphics: Oliver Lüde / CC: Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, ZHdK / plasticgarbageproject.org[/caption]
We were surprised by three initial posts suggesting that throwing paper plates overboard was fine because they biodegrade. Others commented that using big reusable plastic bowls and washing them in buckets of seawater remained common practices among seasoned ocean racers.
Susan Shingledecker, vice president of the BoatU.S. Foundation, sent us a memo from the U.S. Coast Guard with updated regulations on garbage disposal offshore (MARPOL Annex V); it states clearly that throwing paper (among other items) overboard became illegal in international waters as of January 1, 2013. She notes that the U.S. has not yet adopted the change but that we are still bound by the rules. If you are going on an international sailing voyage, such as to Bermuda, you must follow international regulations.
“These regulations apply to all ships, big and small. If you wouldn’t want a cruise ship doing it, then you shouldn’t be doing it,” says Shingledecker. Among the items listed as “discharge prohibited” in the new regulations are: plastics, synthetic ropes, fishing gear, plastic garbage bags, cooking oil, lining and packing materials, paper, rags, glass, metal, and bottles.”
The online conversation yielded copious commentary, some of it heated. “Who will enforce it?” a reader asked. “Leave no trace, whether camping or on the water,” another wrote. One sailor posted, “Doesn’t say it applies to the Atlantic.” And my favorite post: “Sure was nice back in the day when one could pack old frayed underwear and lighten the load as the voyage progressed.”
Hilary Kotoun from Sailors for the Sea, a nonprofit dedicated to education about protecting the oceans, shared the above infographic about timeframes for decomposition for commonly discarded items. She did not dispute that throwing plates overboard may not be a top idea; she did note a recent statistic stating that 90 percent of ocean trash is plastic (see sailorsforthesea.org, “browse essays,” and “Plastic Pollution and its Solution”).
In June, I went to a Jack Johnson concert at Merriweather Post Pavilion and learned that the superstar musician is so dedicated to the environment that he bans single-use plastic bottles at his shows (and offers free water filling stations and reusable Kleen Kanteens for sale. See his plastic-free initiative at allatonce.org). Plastic bag taxes and bans are increasing in numbers across the United States and around the world. Regardless of your politics or longtime habits of throwing things overboard or in your trash bins at home, change is knocking. You can ignore it or make a few changes.
For 19 years at SpinSheet, we’ve built a business upon and created a community around the Chesapeake Bay, this spectacular sailors’ playground in our backyard. Consider your own backyard: a rolling lawn, a patch of grass, a patio, or a dock along a tributary of the Bay. Be honest with yourself. Would you toss a paper plate out there? How about a plastic bag, plastic water bottle, cigarette butt, apple core, or pair of old boxer shorts? What do you think? ~M.W. [email protected]
