Talking Trash! April 25 Workshop in Friday Harbor

“Talking Trash” is an exciting workshop hosted by the Marine Resources Committee during Earth Week.  The event will be held on April 25, 2019 at Brickworks in Friday Harbor from 5 – 7 PM. The workshop is part of the Plastic Free Salish Sea campaign which aims to share ideas about how to reduce waste and reuse what you already have. It will be fun, educational, and positive!

Every day single-use plastics wash up on our beaches and are ingested by birds and marine wild life because they confuse it for prey or they get tangled up in it.  Since China and India have refused America’s mixed recyclables, only limited plastic waste generated on the island can be recycled putting a huge burden on our solid waste management services. Learn about the positive ways we can all contribute to reducing our waste and protecting our beautiful islands and the surrounding fragile waters of the Salish Sea.

Workshop participants will also get to see the final art pieces that will be created by local artists from the litter collected during the Great Islands Clean-up and see first-hand an artistic reuse of garbage found in the marine environment.

The “Talking Trash” workshop series was started on Orcas Island by Orcas Recycling Services. The current workshop on San Juan Island will be led by Karin Roemers-Kleven, Chair of the San Juan County Marine Resource Committee (SJC MRC), and lead of the MRC’s subcommittee addressing marine debris committee called “Plastic Free Salish Sea.” Presenters will include Mark Herrenkohl, San Juan County’s Solid Waste Manager, Nikyta Palmisani from Lopez Island Solid Waste Disposal District, Frances Robertson, San Juan County’s Marine Program Coordinator and Katie Fleming from Friends of the San Juans.

Last year, Orcas Island resident, videographer and MRC member Carl Davis created a “Plastic Free Salish Sea” film to inspire people around the Salish Sea to reuse and reduce. Watch the film and learn more about the Plastic Free Salish Sea campaign at www.plasticfreesalishsea.org.

Attend the “Talking Trash” event on April 25 from 5 PM – 7 PM at Brickworks.  Pizza will be provided, but bring your own water bottle and utensils to help us reduce waste during the event!

Now more than ever Friends of the San Juans needs our support. Learn about the Friends, educate yourself, and you will inevitably want to be a Friend because that is who we turn to when we need support to protect this place.

Liza Michaelson

member, San Juan Island