From its beginning in 1920, the Garden Club of Virginia has directed public attention to conservation issues around the state by establishing Conservation as its first standing committee. Through that committee, the GCV pledged to conserve natural resources, plant trees and deal with pests and pesticides. Today, the Garden Club of Virginia is still leading the way by focusing attention on conservation issues through educational leadership initiatives and legislative involvement.
Single-use plastics, or disposable plastics, are used only once before they are thrown away or recycled. These items are things like plastic bags, straws, coffee stirrers, soda and water bottles and most food packaging.
We produce roughly 300 million tons of plastic each year and half of it is disposable! World-wide only 10-13% of plastic items are recycled. The nature of petroleum based disposable plastic makes it difficult to recycle and they have to add new virgin materials and chemicals to it to do so. Additionally there are a limited number of items that recycled plastic can be used.
Petroleum based plastic is not biodegradable and usually goes into a landfill where it is buried or it gets into the water and finds it’s way into the ocean. Although plastic will not biodegrade (decompose into natural substance like soil,) it will degrade (break down) into tiny particles after many years. In the process of breaking down, it releases toxic chemicals (additives that were used to shape and harden the plastic) which make their way into our food and water supply.
These toxic chemicals are now being found in our bloodstream and the latest research has found them to disrupt the Endocrine system which can cause cancer, infertility, birth defects, impaired immunity and many other ailments.
We produce hundreds of millions of tons of plastic every year, most of which cannot be recycled. It’s obvious that we need to use less plastic, move towards environmentally sustainable products and services and come up with technology that recycles plastic more efficiently.
credit http://www.plasticfreechallenge.org
The GCV Conservation and Environmental Studies Fellowship was established in 2014 to support research in areas relating to the conservation of natural resources and/or environmental studies concerning flora, fauna or community (cultural practices) that directly impact the Commonwealth of Virginia. Learn more...
Organic farming has relied heavily on tillage for weed control. And conventional no-till techniques depend entirely on herbicides for weed control and effective cover crop kill. The question has been how to make the benefits of no-till accessible to organic farmers and how to free conventional farmers from the expensive and toxic chemicals. Organic no-till is based on sound biological principles and mechanical cover-crop kill, making it possible to reduce and even eliminate tillage. http://www.rodaleinstitute.org/no-till_revolution Photo of no-till corn planting into cover crop of barley, Washington County by Jeff Vanuga, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
Virginia Conservation Network
Scenic Virginia
Virginia DGIF
Virginia DCR
Chesapeake Bay Foundation
Nature Camp Foundation
Wilderness Society
James River Association
Uranium Working Group
Virginia DEQ
Virginia Museum of Natural History
Virginia Outdoors Foundation
Piedmont Environmental Council
The Nature Conservancy
The Virginia Coalition
VA League of Conservation Voters
Virgina DOF
EPA Great Waters Program
Pesticides and Our Health
Capital Trees
Keep Virginia Beautiful
