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You are probably asking yourself why an organization whose mission is to be the global voice for whales and dolphins and their environment is interested in "Going Green". Environmental changes to marine habitats, such as decreases in salinity and increases in water temperature, not only impact our weather patterns, but they disrupt how whales navigate, find food, and the types and amounts of food available to them. According to the International Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) most recent report, the current climate change we face was human induced which means We Can Do Something (WCDS) about it. Join WDCS in its WCDS campaign by Doing Something.
Our goal is to feature easy tips that will produce a real difference. Email us ( contact@WDCSGoesGreen.org) each time you make a change to keep our change counter increasing and our global thermometer decreasing!
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 WDCS applauds the city of San Francisco's new law mandating everyone recycle food waste. The city is even providing additional recycling bins in which food scraps are picked up by the city.
It's the first program of its kind in the nation, and so far, it's a mandate San Franciscans seem to relish. In fact, many residents and landlords began implementing the law before it took effect, using their city-provided food recycling bins to separate waste. That's because the program trims apartment building's garbage costs while keeping the garbage room from reeking of wet garbage and the food waste. Read the full story... |
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WDCS Works To Clean Up Marine Debris - YOU CAN HELP!
 Marine debris is litter that finds its way into the marine environment. Roughly six million tons of it enters the world's oceans every year. Its presence in the oceans, rivers and waterways creates a tremendous hazard for marine animals and birds. It is estimated that marine debris is responsible for the death of one million birds and 100,000 marine mammals each year.
The two main ways marine debris harms animals is through entanglement and ingestion. When an animal gets entangled in something, for instance, fishing line or a six-pack ring, its ability to eat, breath and/or swim may be hampered. This can have  fatal results. The problem is compounded by the fact that 90 percent of all floating debris is plastic and plastic takes hundreds of years to degrade. This means that the same piece of plastic can entangle and kill animals year after year.
Plastic is also mistaken for food and when it is eaten, animals have a false sense of being full and can die of starvation. This is particularly a problem with sea turtles, which often mistake plastic bags for jellyfish, their favorite food. Consequently, it is estimated that 86 percent of all sea turtles are affected by marine debris.
To learn more about the problem of marine debris – the sources, impact and solutions - visit NOAA’s educational website: http://marinedebris.noaa.gov/.
So what can we do to help? RECYCLE! Recycling not only reuses raw materials to make new objects, it also ensures that those materials do not find their way into the environment as litter! WDCS recognizes the importance recycling has and conducts trash surveys each year to document the amount of litter in our local waters and retrieve as much as possible. WDCS and Captain John Boats collected all the litter from their whale watching boats over the summer of 2007. A total of 5,528 items of aluminum, glass and plastic were recycled. So follow our example and recycle!
Teachers - Interested in bringing recycling into your classroom? Click here for the Teacher's Handout, the Teacher's Extensions and website recycling facts.
Fun link
Fun Litter Games and information
Jack Johnson’s take on the song “Three Is a Magic Number,” reinterpreted as a call to protect th e environment and
Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle |
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Save Energy and Save Whales by donating your old cell phones, PDAs, digital cameras and iPods! WDCS has teamed up with Recycling for Charities. When you donate equipment to them they send us a small percentage that helps us protect whales and the ocean environment. Click on the graphic above to donate your equipment and DON'T FORGET to select the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) as the charity of your choice.
We hope you will join us in this project to help the environment. Just click the image above to donate online and help both WDCS and the environment.
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COMPOSTING HELPS!
For those of you not already familiar with composting, this is a great way to help the environment, while helping your garden, naturally. According to the EPA, yard trimmings and food residuals make up a total of 24% of the municipal solid waste in the United States. Composting, in its most natural form, is a ecological process where plants or vegetation fall to the ground, decay, and ultimately return minerals and nutrients to the surrounding plants, animals and microorganisms. |
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