What do you throw overboard?

[lustyd]

Yeah the air pollution regulations also kick in just to the east of Falmouth which is why they do a great trade in supplying low sulphur bunkers to the ships heading up the channel.

But also why the ships sit in Falmouth bay and burn off the stuff left in their tanks before continuing!

 

[lustyd]

http://www.blueoceansociety.org/Education/education.html

"How Long Does it Take to Break Down in the Marine Environment?
Newspaper ...............6 weeks
Apple Core ...............2 months
Cotton Rope..............1 year
Cigarette butt...........1-15 years*
Plastic bag................10-20 years*
Fishing nets..............30-40 years
Tin can/ Batteries.......100 years*
Aluminum Soda Can ....80-200 years*
Plastic bottle .............450 years*
Fishing line ...............600 years*
Glass bottle................1 million years*
* = Item often found at beach cleanups
Sources: Mote Marine Lab, National Park Service"

http://www.thatdanny.com/2008/06/06...a-plastic-bag-or-a-glass-bottle-to-decompose/

As I said, ponder the agenda of the person who wrote it. That list is total nonsense. For a start, glass will literally never degrade, it just breaks into smaller pieces. If the breaking up is what they refer to then I'm pretty sure we've all seen bits of glass on the beach less than a million years old which have broken down significantly already.
Newspaper simply does not take 6 weeks to degrade, any school child making paper mashe Can tell you that! As for an apple core lasting 2 months, as I said before these will be eaten within a couple of days by marine life. These people are not doing the planet any favours by making such ridiculous claims, if they were at least realistic then more people would take notice. As a diver, I see the **** on the seabed first hand so I'm comfortable with what I throw overboard.

 

[lustyd]

Oh and for what it's worth, I've had tesco carrier bags degrade in under a year in a warm and dry cupboard at home so I find it hard to believe it would take longer at sea...

 

[Rivers & creeks]

Paper scraps, food waste, tin cans or glass when a long way off shore, a seagull outboard in exasperation, assorted broken items from the boat, no plastic or styrofoam.

 

[wadget]

But also why the ships sit in Falmouth bay and burn off the stuff left in their tanks before continuing!

To be fair most of them have more than 1 tank and save the cheap stuff for when they leave the special area again.

 

[lustyd]

To be fair most of them have more than 1 tank and save the cheap stuff for when they leave the special area again.

Ah they must all be ashore eating pasties then

 

[blackdogsailing]

On a passage from St. Barts. to Bermuda many years ago I started dismantling my old siezed up volvo MD2 and threw the bits over the side in an effort to make the boat go faster (there was very little wind). It didn't work but I felt much better for it
On short coastal passages, nothing goes over the side. Deep sea, everything except plastic does. Cans are ripped apart so they definitely sink. Glass is put in a canvas bag and hit with a winch handle again to ensure it sinks.
Chris

 

[Grumpybear]

Can you prove otherwise then?

We don't need to, unless the principle of innocent until proven guilty has been abandoned. In a free, rational society people who wish to constrain the behaviour of others have a duty to prove their claims first, not the other way round.

 

[alant]

We don't need to, unless the principle of innocent until proven guilty has been abandoned. In a free, rational society people who wish to constrain the behaviour of others have a duty to prove their claims first, not the other way round.

"who wish to constrain the behaviour of others"

Go ahead then, make the place look s.hite!