When There's Nothing Left to Burn....

A Cuyahoga River Fire (Photo: November 3rd, 1953, Courtesy of CSU Libary)

One of the most interesting stories from my introductory environmental science class was that of the Cuyahoga River Fire that occurred in Cleveland, OH in 1969. High industrial production and poor regulations in the area had resulted in extremely poor water quality (anoxic conditions, oily sludge and debris, thermal pollution), ultimately sparking a total of thirteen fires on the Cuyahoga River from 1868-1969. In each of the instances, the oily debris at the river's surface ignited, and the oily sludge allowed it to continue to burn. For over a hundred years, these fires were considered normal in Cleveland- in fact, the fire that occurred on June 22nd wasn't even the largest fire that had taken place! But the American Environmental Movement was growing (with the first Earth Day to be celebrated on April 22nd, 1970) and for the first time, the fire gained national media attention, with Time Magazine stating that the Cuyahoga was a river that "oozes rather than flows." Under increased national pressure from the press coverage of the fire, Congress passed the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in 1970, before enacting the Clean Water Act in 1972.

The Cuyahoga has come a long way since 1969, resulting in better water quality for both the river itself and Lake Erie (which is where the Cuyahoga leads). My boyfriend grew up sailing on Lake Erie in the late 90's and has only very good memories of water quality in the area, largely thanks to the legislation passed by the Clean Water Act. But in other areas of the country (like here in Pennsylvania), it is evident that we still have a lot of room for improvement. During my time at Drexel, I spent three days a week sailing on the Delaware River as part of the Drexel Sailing Team. I absolutely love the area, and still consider the team's yacht club to be a home away from home. In addition to the team practices, I sailed with club members for a Wednesday night racing series, and had an opportunity to crew for some faster boats, including V15s and J22s.

I specifically recall a summer evening last year when there was no wind (right after a large storm, actually) and the boats were all rigged up, but everyone was hanging out on the deck waiting for the wind to fill in. And these people, with their khaki shorts and big shiny boats were standing on the docks socializing, utterly oblivious to the fact that they were completely surrounded by floating trash. These members were definitely able to see all of the plastic (red coke bottle caps, water bottles of all shapes and sizes, tennis balls, candy wrappers) mixed in with the organic debris, but being a little older than I am, I think that they had just become indifferent. Since we had all the time in the world, I went up to the yacht club and collected a trash bag and boat hook, and spent two hours cleaning up any garbage that I could. In fact, embarrassed by their own inaction, many of the members ended up pitching in. But the point is that after looking at the same debris all of the time, sometimes we forget to react and need a reminder that this is unacceptable (like the shaming provided by Time Magazine following the 1969 Cuyahoga Fire).

We depend on our waterways for so many things, like our drinking water, and protection from storm surges, but we just cannot seem to treat them with the respect they deserve. We have to realize that the purchasing decisions we make (such as a single use water bottle versus reusable water bottle), have a very large impact, and ultimately anything we choose to dispose of on land is only one storm sewer away from being in our rivers. A really good illustration of this relationship is a TED Talk given by one of the founders of the Plastic Pollution Coalition located here. In addition to refusing plastics, you can outsmart some of your other waste streams by checking out a company called TerraCycle. Started by a Princeton undergrad in 2001, TerraCycle was once known solely for their organic fertilizer, but is now a leading expert in creating products and materials from unconventional waste materials. Things like wine corks, flip flops, graphing calculators and candy wrappers can all be recycled through TerraCycle (even cigarette butts)! Most of their 'Brigades' offer free shipping and a charitable donation in exchange for your waste.

Do you have any products that you could begin to recycle through TerraCycle? And what about the waterways near you? Are there any actions that you can take to improve the water quality there, or can you make better purchasing decisions? I'd love to hear your simple solutions to leaving your corner of the world a little better.