Plastic Art Project #3: “Belly Full of Trash”

Photo of large fish made from a green and black wake board with plastic trash pieces attached to it to make it appear as a fish with a a view of its belly, which is full of plastic trash. — “Belly Full of Trash,” copyright Marie Cullis, 2025.

About

This is my third plastic trash art project, and this one differs from my previous creations. First, it’s the largest, measuring almost 59 inches wide and 39 inches between the tips of each “fin.” It’s also the heaviest. Finally, rather than depicting a scene, this piece depicts a large fish, showing a cross-section of its stomach and revealing that it is filled with plastic waste. Given the high number of marine animals that perish due to plastic ingestion, I felt it was crucial to illustrate this issue.

When marine animals accidentally ingest plastic, they are often unable to regurgitate it or pass it through their digestive systems. As plastic accumulates, it can block digestion, causing the animal to feel full and reducing its urge to eat, which eventually leads to starvation. Sharp fragments can also injure internal organs, causing infections and internal bleeding. In 2021, Earth.org estimated that the number of marine animals affected each year exceeds 100,000. “We find about 100,000 marine animals killed by ocean plastic ingestion or entanglement each year, and this is only the tip of the iceberg. There are likely far more lying at the bottom of the ocean, who, once decomposed, will release the plastic for other animals to encounter. Approximately 1 million sea birds also die from plastic annually.”¹ The actual number is likely much higher as plastic production increases every year.

Slight inset of a Photo of large fish made from a green and black wake board with plastic trash pieces attached to it to make it appear as a fish with a view of its belly, which is full of plastic trash. — Copyright Marie Cullis.

Location

I collected trash and plastic debris from Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, during the week of Memorial Day in 2024. When I collect beach trash, the type I find can vary because of the time of year or location. For instance, in the more remote parts of the Outer Banks, I found lots of microplastics, rather than whole items like cups and bottles. But on this trip, I found very few microplastics and mostly large items, including cups, water bottles, toys, and food packaging. This was likely because I was in a populated area of Hilton Head, and it was a holiday weekend.

Collected Beach Trash

Memorial Day weekend at any beach is extremely busy, and Hilton Head was no exception. Beachgoers left behind all manner of items, mostly plastic, and much of it seemed careless.

Example 1: Food Packaging and Juice pouches:

Five juice pouches, Capri Sun and KoolAid brands, some still with the straws in them, lying on a white tray. — These CapriSun and Kool-Aid juice pouches became the fins of my giant fish.

Various food packages - chip bags, candy wrappers, and other snack packaging - lying on a white tray.

Of course, everyone gets hungry on the beach, and that’s okay! But we can all be responsible and properly dispose of our food waste and packaging. Bring a small trash bag, or simply place the trash inside your cooler or food bag, and put it in the trash later. It’s not an inconvenience; it’s easy, and it’s the right thing to do.

Example 2: Beverage Containers

Water bottles, plastic or Styrofoam cups, and plastic straws were everywhere! These are items we are all capable of managing and disposing of properly.

The source of several of these items was an outdoor hotel bar at Coligny Beach Park in Hilton Head, which served drinks in clear plastic cups with brown plastic straws. Even with ample trash receptacles, everyone is ultimately responsible for their own waste. But the hotel bar could also stop serving in plastic.

Various brands of water bottles on a white tray.

Clear plastic cups of different varieties, including one from Dunkin'.

Styrofoam cups and pieces on a gray table.

Crushed Coca-Cola can, red with fist image. — Crushed Coca-Cola can. Note that when these rust, they become very sharp and cause injuries, since many people walk barefoot on the beach and swim in the surf without shoes.

Various colors and sizes of straws on a gray table. — The brown straws on the left came from the outdoor hotel bar – I accidentally verified this when I bought a drink there.

Example 3: Beach Toys

While I’m not perfect, I always account for all of our beach toys at the end of the day. We keep our beach toy bag intentionally minimal, with only about 8 items, so we can enjoy the beach and easily keep track of them. Please do the same!

I found more lost or abandoned beach toys than I could use in this art project:

Various colors and sizes of toy shovels.

Various sizes and colors of sand molds, and a red toy boat.

Beach star sand molds in green and red, a broken water gun, and a blue plastic scoop.

Purple fish shaped sifter, a blue frisbee disc, and Velcro Ball game paddle.

Various beach shovels with pink or green heads; two broken.

A group of snap-on handles from toy beach buckets. — A group of snap-on handles from toy beach buckets, which have obviously become detached. This is a very common problem, and I find these on every beach.

Various sand tools and broken parts of beach toys, in many shapes and colors.

The plastic netting that beach toys are often sold in. — The plastic netting that companies often package beach toys in. You can avoid these if you buy certain brands or buy beach toys secondhand.

I was unable to find a place to donate beach toys while on the island. There are “borrow” beach toy bins in some areas of Florida and Galveston, Texas, and beach libraries exist in the UK!

But I’ve since discovered there’s at least one on Hilton Head Island, though I’m not sure if it was there in 2024:

View this post on Instagram

I didn’t use most of the whole, intact beach toys in this art project, and many are too large for my other projects. So, I may donate them or use them in another project. I definitely won’t put them in a landfill!

All Other Items:

Metal bottle caps, mostly from beer. — Metal bottlecaps

Plastic caps for drink (top) and applesauce packets in orange and yellow (bottom). — Plastic bottlecaps

Bottlecaps in a variety of colors, clear ones on right from water bottles. — So many bottlecaps

Colorful small plastic pieces in a variety of shapes. — Variety of small plastic items…

Plastic fingernails, 3 blue and one large french tip — …including fake plastic fingernails! Yuck!

Variety of plastic trash items found on the beach, some brightly colored, including a green cotton swab, a yellow stake, orange lighter, and white plastic spoons. — Plastic utensils, a Circle K lighter, SunBum lip balm, cotton swabs, cigarette buts, aluminum can tabs, a cork, stakes, travel-sized Neutrogena sunscreen, etc.

Bandaid, Qtips/cotton swabs, and cigarette butts — Band-Aid, cotton swabs, and cigarette butts

Orange plastic Circle K lighter, SunBum lip balm, and a white plastic spoon stem. — Orange plastic Circle K lighter, SunBum lip balm, and a white plastic spoon stem

Sunglasses, goggles, and goggles packaging. — Sunglasses, goggles, and goggles packaging

Plastic lids, all clear or white — Plastic lids

Various plastic and paper labels or tags

Zip ties, dental picks, hair ties, a bracelet, and various other string-type items, all made of plastics. — Zip ties, dental picks, hair ties, a bracelet, and various other string-type items, all made of plastics

Various strings but all made from nylon or polyester (plastic fabrics)

Ribbon type items, various colors — Ribbon-type items

Pieces of clear plastic wrappers and bags

Various textile items, including a washcloth, a sock, and a shoe insert

Various items including a clothing hanger, a flip flop, a child's water shoe, vape cartridges, a plastic test tube shot container, a piece of wood fence, and a random piece of plastic — Various items, including a clothing hanger, a flip flop, a child’s water shoe, vape cartridges, a plastic test tube shot container, a piece of wood fence, and a random piece of plastic

Vape cartridges, purple and white — Empty Purple Urkle THCA vape cartridges

The Board

I took a solo beach walk one evening that week and found this board. Damaged and very dirty, it had washed up on the beach, with no one nearby. I held it up and waved it around to see if anyone claimed it, but no one did. I left it by the outdoor shower area of our rental for a couple of days, but no one picked it up.

I initially believed it was a wakeboard, used with a boat, and washed ashore. However, after researching online, I discovered it’s a ZAP skimboard that originally had raised traction pieces.² (I removed the largest pieces before remembering to take photos, so I only have images of me removing the smaller ones.) While I could have possibly sold or donated it, the condition was questionable. The edges were chipped, the traction pieces were damaged, and the entire board had a thick layer of sticky sand that I had to scrape off with a razor blade.

Did I take someone’s skimboard? I don’t think so. I believe it was lost or abandoned, considering its condition. My alternative was to leave it for the sea to claim at high tide, or perhaps for a lifeguard to pick it up the next morning if it remained on the beach, and ultimately end up in the garbage. So I decided to use it as the background for my art project!

The Process

Washing the trash

I usually rinse everything before bringing it home. But this trip, I didn’t have time. I also had so much trash that my spouse insisted I limit it to one bag only (and in all fairness, we have a small car and it was already mostly full for the trip). So, once I got home, I decided to wash it all right away – rather than letting it sit – to avoid bad smells and keep yucky trash out of my home. I had to do it in batches over a couple of days.

First, I separated a portion of the garbage bag and put it in a metal bucket to rinse off the sand. I recommend doing this to keep as much sand as possible out of your plumbing. I dumped the water on my grass; no harm done.

Metal bucket of beach trash in soapy water, all sorts of colors and textures.

Next, I washed everything with dish soap in my kitchen sink. I recommend using a laundry room sink if you have one; otherwise, the kitchen sink works fine. After washing, I laid everything out on towels to dry completely.

Tray of beach trash, all sorts of colors and textures.

Tray of beach trash, all sorts of colors and textures and shapes.

Variety beach trash drying on a burgundy kitchen towel, all sorts of colors and textures.

After everything was completely dry, I stored it in a clear, homemade trash bag until I had time to work on the project.

Large clear bag of beach trash, all sorts of colors and textures.

And yes, I reused the original white trash bag for actual trash at home!

Sorting

In the Spring of 2025, I sorted the trash pieces on two folding tables in my garage.

Creating

The idea of a fish or a whale came to me because of the shape of the board. Using Aleene’s Tacky glue and Sugru, I attached plastic pieces to the board. I used round flat pieces (one is a paper seal from a Pringles canister) to make the eye; synthetic fabrics to make a mouth; broken toy shovels as tail fins; juice pouches as fins; and water bottles, bottle caps, and other clear plastics became scales. I created the stomach outline from toy bucket straps, and the colorful and identifiable pieces went into the cross-sectional view of the stomach, as if you were viewing the fish’s stomach contents.

Zoomed in view of the belly full of trash on the fish. — Close up of the stomach. Copyright Marie Cullis.

Close up view of water bottle caps used as scales on the bottom of the fish. — Copyright Marie Cullis.

Fin made from juice pouches. Copyright Marie Cullis.

Tail fins made from pink and green toy beach shovels. Copyright Marie Cullis.

Zoomed in view of the fish's face, made from nylon fabric pieces and a Pringles can seal. — Copyright Marie Cullis.

I could have created anything with these materials, but as I mentioned earlier, raising awareness about marine life ingesting plastic was too important an issue to ignore. Through this piece, I wanted to show not only the environmental damage caused by plastic pollution but also the impact it has on marine life that suffers because of human actions. In the end, I hope it inspires others both to help combat plastic pollution and to express themselves through art. And maybe even inspire change!

Thanks for reading, and please share and subscribe!

Footnotes:

Article, “How Many Marine Animals Die From Plastic Each Year?” Earth.org, November 19, 2021. ↩︎
Page, “The Hellcat V2,” zapskimboards.com, March 7, 2023. ↩︎

November 30, 2025December 3, 2025

10 Easy Steps to Go Plastic-Free Today

The word "plastic: spelled out in large plastic colorful letters, on white background. — Photo by Merakist on Unsplash.

Here are 10 ways to go plastic-free quickly!

Some of these overlap with my “14 Ways to Go Plastic-Free with Food,” but these are the easiest overall switches you can begin with, to give you momentum and make an immediate impact. Once these have become routine, you’ll start thinking about all of the plastic in your life. Especially those single-use disposable plastics!

1. Say no to plastic bags.

Reusable bags are sold everywhere these days, and given out for free at many places, too. However, many of those are made of plastic cloth and don’t last a long time. Look for canvas bags, which last longer and can be mended easily. The best place to buy plain canvas and cloth bags is usually craft stores. You can even decorate them with permanent markers, tie-dye, regular dye, or fabric paint. (Bonus if you use materials you already have in your home or obtained secondhand.)

Pro-tip: Store your bags in your car so that they’re always with you.

Close up of a canvas bag and its handle, off white, on a white background. — Photo by Mel Poole on Unsplash.

Or, go for something easy to travel with, such as ChicoBags, which are packable bags that fold into a small pouch and have a carabiner clip to attach to a keychain, backpack, or purse. I personally own a set of these and really like them.

Blue colored ChicoBag with pouch, on white background. — Image from ChicoBags.

Worst-case scenario: If you find yourself without your reusable bags, ask the store for paper bags instead of plastic.

Super Pro tip: Avoid plastic produce bags, too, by investing in a set of reusable produce bags.

4 reusable off white mesh cloth produce bags with different types of produce in each one, on a white table. — Photo by Karola G from Pexels.

Reusable plastic mesh produce bags with various vegetables in them, on a light wood table. — Photo by Polina Tankilevitch on Pexels.

Or, skip a bag altogether. Bananas, for example, have their own packaging – so they don’t really need a bag! Anything you must peel – onions, oranges, lemons, limes, garlic, avocados – don’t really need a bag!

2. Skip the straw.

You don’t really need a straw for most drinks, especially at sit-down restaurants. Their drinkware is sanitized through a dishwasher with a much hotter temperature than most homes.

If you do need a straw while out and about, or for a child, buy a reusable stainless steel or glass straw. These are relatively inexpensive. You can also buy paper or bamboo straws, which are still disposable, but at least not plastic.

Pro tip: I’ve started saying, “No straw, please” when I first order a beverage now, because restaurants often serve one automatically, out of the wrapper and in the drink. Once that straw is opened, it’s going to the landfill whether you use it or not – so better to request no straw at the onset.

Plastic straw in glass beverage at a bar or restaurant, wooden counter or table. — Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash.

3. Stop buying bottled water.

Most bottled water is often just municipal tap water. The plastic bottles are technically recyclable, but only about 8% or 9% of plastics are ever actually recycled. Further, those bottles can leach toxins into the water you drink.

Invest in a reusable water bottle, preferably made from metal or glass, not plastic. These are available almost everywhere, and you can get them secondhand as long as you sanitize them.

Pro tip: Invest in a water filtration system to remove unhealthy toxins from your water.

5 water bottles in various colors, sittin gon a white counter with aqua background. — My family’s various water bottles. Photo by Marie Cullis.

4. Invest in a reusable travel coffee mug.

The disposable cups at Starbucks and other coffee shops are lined with plastic and always come with a plastic lid. These cups can leach microplastics into your drink and into your body. Worse, heat makes the problem even worse because it causes more microplastics to leach from the plastic.¹

Buy a reusable travel mug designed for hot beverages.. Again, these are available almost everywhere, and you can get them secondhand as long as you sanitize them.

4 travel mugs in various colors, on a white countertop with aqua wall background. — My family’s various insulated travel mugs. Photo by Marie Cullis.

5. Switch to bar soap.

Body wash, shampoo, and even conditioner that come in plastic bottles are more water than cleanser, so why not just pay for the soap only? This reduces shipping costs and reduces emissions too, since only the soap ships, not the water that normally comes in the product.

There are hundreds of soap options available online. I personally like Nourish Savannah soap, since I have sensitive skin. It has generally safe and gentle ingredients and smells lovely. Bonus: it doesn’t ship with plastic packaging.

Pro tip: Switch to shampoo bars (and conditioner bars!).

4 bars of soap with paper wraps and twine, on a wooden table with lavender sprigs in the background. — Photo by Aurélia Dubois on Unsplash.

6. Stop using fabric softener and dryer sheets.

Fabric softener and dryer sheets usually has toxic ingredients: they contain hormone-disrupting phthalates, chemicals that damage the reproductive system, and compounds that trigger asthma. Fabric softener liquid almost always comes in a plastic bottle. Most fabric dryer sheets are made of nonwoven polyester fabric, which does not biodegrade. It’s the same as plastic trash.

There are so many alternatives! Wool dryer balls have been one of my favorite replacements. And nowadays they come in adorable colors and designs!

6 wool dryer balls, penguin designs. Bag and white background.

Basket of wool dryer balls, some with colorful felted designs.

7. Switch to toilet paper that isn’t wrapped in plastic.

Most toilet paper is shipped and sold in non-recyclable plastic wrap. Worse, toilet paper is made from trees, the very thing we humans need to breathe! About 1 million trees are cut down daily to make traditional toilet paper.²

You can hit two targets with one arrow by buying recycled or bamboo toilet paper from companies like Who Gives A Crap (Bonus: they donate 50% of their profits to ensuring everyone worldwide has access to clean water and toilets).

Pro tip: Buy plastic-free paper towels or switch to something reusable.

Super Pro tip: Switch to reusable cloth wipes, also called family cloths.

Photo by Marie Cullis.

8. Limit the number of plastic items you buy.

This might seem like a no-brainer, but it’s actually harder than we initially think. I once needed a new dustpan, but the only ones I could find locally were made of plastic. And those always break and have to be replaced! I found a metal one on Amazon, but of course, it shipped in plastic.

A black metal dustpan wrapped in clear plastic. — The black metal dustpan I bought came wrapped in plastic. Why? Photo by Marie Cullis.

But a dustpan being plastic is something I never thought about until I needed to replace it. And there are dozens of items like this in people’s homes. Plastic pens, storage bins, hairbrushes, toothbrushes, trash cans, soap dispensers, craft paint, clothing hangers, school supplies, purses, shoes, food packaging, dishes, sunglasses, toys, games, ice cube trays…the list is endless.

So, next time you need to replace something, look for a plastic-free alternative!

Pro tip: There are several stores online that sell items that are plastic-free and ship without plastic packaging.

Super Pro-tip: Is there a zero-waste store to shop in your area?

9. Invest in a set of reusable metal or glass food containers.

Use these containers for leftovers, packing lunches, and transporting food for parties. Ball jars or mason jars are perfect for these tasks, too. Don’t buy plastic ones, and especially do not reheat your food in plastic containers because the chemicals in plastics leach into food.

Pro tip: If you already own plastic containers, you can repurpose them to store other items, such as cosmetics, small game pieces, small electronics, or craft supplies.

Super Pro tip: Consider keeping a couple in your car for restaurant leftovers, instead of using the Styrofoam containers restaurants provide.

Tri-bento box or tiffin, all metal, white background. — Tri-bento box from ecolunchboxes.com.

Clear glass container with bamboo lid, Ikea, white background. — Clear glass container with bamboo lid from Ikea.

Collection of foods containers, including metal and glass rectangular ones, a small green soup thermos, a silver tiffin, and 2 Ball jars; on white countertop with aqua wall background. — Some of my family’s food storage containers, including a small soup thermos, a tiffin, Ball jars, and rectangular containers in glass and metal.

10. Buy secondhand.

Buy secondhand, anything appropriate for you. Think clothing, purses, household items, books, video games, board games, smartphones, art supplies, and even school supplies. Whenever you buy secondhand, you reduce your overall carbon footprint through reduced production, packaging, and shipping emissions. This includes lowering the amount of plastic used in both the product and its packaging.

Bonus: Secondhand items cost less, saving you money to spend on other things (like a fun trip!).

Clothing racks with shoes on top, with shoppers and other various vintage items in background. — Photo by Hugo Clément on Unsplash.

“Remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day. The same is true for your plastic-free home. It’s going to take some time to transition but with patience and persistence you can easily weed plastic out of your home and create a new lifestyle that’s dramatically leaner when it comes to plastic usage.” -Sandra Ann Harris, founder of ECOlunchbox³

Footnotes:

Article, “Release of microplastics from disposable cups in daily use,” by Huier Chen et. al., Science of the Total Environment, Volume 854, January 1, 2023. ↩︎
Page, “Are 1 million trees really cut down each day to make toilet paper?” Impact & Sustainability Info, whogviesacrap.com, updated February 10, 2025. ↩︎
Book, Say Goodbye to Plastic: A Survival Guide for Plastic-Free Living, by Sandra Ann Harris, Hatherleigh Press, 2020. ↩︎

July 26, 2025July 26, 2025

Does the Cora Ball Really Work? My Mixed Results

Cora Ball, blue and dark blue plastic nubbed ball, sitting on towels on a washing machine. — Image from coraball.com.

What is the Cora Ball?

Cora Ball is simply a laundry ball that collects microfibers and prevents them from getting into the ocean. As I explained in Part 5 of my series The Real Global Price of What You Wear, synthetic fabrics shed microfibers during washing, which then enter our waterways, pollute the oceans, and ultimately harm fish, marine mammals, and even humans.

When you use a Cora Ball in your washing machine, it collects these microfibers. The company cites a 2020 study that indicated that using a Cora Ball “prevents 31% of the microfibers per load from washing downstream” and “helps prevent microfibers from breaking off your clothes” in the first place.¹ I’m not clear on how it prevents fibers from breaking off clothes, so I’m not sure about this claim. A 2019 study claimed Cora Ball captured 26% of microfibers,² and a 2021 study put the number at just 10%. The latter study described that the “difference between the two studies can be explained by the different length of studied fibre…since the trapping efficiency of Cora Ball increases with the size (length and lint) of fibres.”³ (The studies also indicated that the Guppy Bag has a higher rate of microfiber collection.)

People researching how to keep plastic out of the ocean invented the Cora Ball. The co-founders of Cora Ball “first founded the nonprofit Rozalia Project for a Clean Ocean to launch their mission of preserving a thriving marine ecosystem by tackling marine debris through cleanup, education, research, and solutions development.”⁴ The company now addresses other plastic problems through non-plastic product creation.

The company makes the laundry balls from recycled plastic, manufactures them in the United States, and the company even has a take-back program!

Angled photo of a stainless steel washer and dryer with towels coming out of the open machine door. — Image by Steve Buissinne from Pixabay.

So I Tried It

I ordered one about 6 months ago and threw it in my washer and left it in for every wash. For the first couple of months, I didn’t see much collecting in it – just a few pet and human hairs, and a single loose thread or two. I finally started seeing a tiny bit of accumulated lint, but not enough to even pick out of the ball. From Cora Ball’s welcome email, this seemed fairly normal: “Sometimes, after everyday clothing loads, you may not see much. It may be there accumulating and tangling up with hair and larger fibers, it’s just too small to see and you will be able to remove it when the tangles do get big enough to grab.”⁵ So I just left it in the machine for months.

Then I made a mistake. I had purchased some fabric for a sewing project and washed it before doing the project (as is often recommended). The fabric frayed and got badly tangled in the Cora Ball. I’d also washed a blanket with fringe, and that also got tangled in the ball. All are made of cotton and should not be as harmful to the environment as synthetic fabrics. But the company recommends not washing those types of things with their laundry ball. On their FAQ page: “We recommend that you DO NOT wash anything with lace, tassels, chunky or wide-knit, crocheted sections, or fraying threads with Cora Ball.”⁶ Those mistakes left me with this mess:

Close up of a blue and dark blue Cora Ball with many tangled threads in various colors.

Cleaning the Cora Ball

I spent about 30 minutes using scissors and my fingers to try to remove the strings and threads, but I couldn’t get all of it out. I certainly can’t replace it at $46.00 per ball, but it’s still usable and I’m not going to give up on it.

Piles of threads in green and other colors on a white background.

Up close, some of the microfibers or “lint” are visible in the threads (it looks gray and fuzzy):

close up of threads in green and other colors on a white background. — Photos by Marie Cullis.

The Real Solutions

Of course, the real solutions lie in avoiding synthetic textiles in the first place. While I buy as little fast fashion as possible, some inevitably enters my home since I buy some of my family’s clothing second-hand. You don’t always have a choice in the fabric content of second-hand clothing.

Is it better to buy second-hand clothing or newly produced natural fiber clothing?

Both are good practices. Though in general, the answer is always TO BUY LESS. For my family, we buy second-hand because it is far more affordable than new clothing of any type. It’s better for the environment since those clothing items have already been produced. And it is always better to reuse rather than put them in a landfill or ship them to developing countries, where the discarded items may worsen that country’s waste problems.

We can wash our clothes less and do laundry better to increase the lifespan of the clothes we already own. Avoid the toxic, poisonous, and harsh ingredients that are in most laundry detergents and fabric softeners.

Final Thoughts on Cora Ball

While I ask that people focus on shifting away from synthetic clothing and fabrics, buy less, and buy second-hand when able, I do think that Cora Ball can help with already-owned synthetics. And I recognize that some outdoor gear and swimwear must be made from synthetics. While Cora Ball will help, it is not the only solution to our global pollution problems.

So I’m asking that if you buy one, please don’t think you’re done helping solve the crisis. Continue to think about these problems and make improvements. I’m certainly going to continue using mine.

If you’ve tried this product, I’d love for you to leave me a comment about your experience. Thank you for reading, and please share and subscribe!

This is an honest review, and I did not get paid or receive goods in exchange for this review.

Footnotes:

Article, “The efficiency of devices intended to reduce microfibre release during clothes washing,” by Imogen E. Napper, Aaron C. Barrett, Richard C. Thompson, Science of The Total Environment, Volume 738, October 10, 2020. ↩︎
Article, “Capturing microfibers – marketed technologies reduce microfiber emissions from washing machines,” by Hayley K. McIlwraith, Jack Lin, Lisa M. Erdle, Nicholas Mallos, Miriam L. Diamond, Chelsea M. Rochman, Marine Pollution Bulletin, Volume 139, February 2019. ↩︎
Article, “Quantification of different microplastic fibres discharged from textiles in machine wash and tumble drying,” by Kärkkäinen, N. and Sillanpää, M., Environmental Science and Pollution Research, Volume 28, April 2021. ↩︎
Page, “Meet the Cora Ball Team,” coraball.com, August 16, 2022. ↩︎
Page, “Frequently Asked Questions,” coraball.com, accessed July 26, 2025. ↩︎
Page, “Frequently Asked Questions,” coraball.com, accessed July 26, 2025. ↩︎

March 16, 2024March 23, 2024

Joel Sartore at the Tennessee Aquarium

Exterior of the Tennessee Aquairum, River Journey, entrance, with a Joel Sartore photograph of a slider (turtle) at the entrance, people going in. — Photo by Marie Cullis.

The Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, Tennessee, recently opened an exhibit featuring the work of award-winning photographer and National Geographic Explorer Joel Sartore and the National Geographic Photo Ark project. They launched the exhibit with an event featuring Joel Sartore and his son Cole Sartore, who presented their story. I was lucky to purchase a ticket to it before they sold out.

Orange spotted filefish - aqua and orange spotted - against a white background. — Orange spotted filefish, Oxymonacanthus longirostris, at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium, Nebraska, 2013. Joel Sartore/National Geographic Photo Ark, natgeophotoark.org.

Close up of an octopus, viewpoint looking underneath the creature, viewing its red tentacles and white suckers. — An octopus, Octopoda, at Dallas World Aquarium, Texas, 2013. Joel Sartore/National Geographic Photo Ark, natgeophotoark.org.

What is the National Geographic Photo Ark?

“The Photo Ark uses the power of photography to inspire people to help save species at risk before it’s too late.

“The interaction between animals and their environments is the engine that keeps the planet healthy for all of us. But for many species, time is running out. When you remove one, it affects us all.

“The National Geographic Photo Ark is a multiyear effort to raise awareness of and find solutions to some of the most pressing issues affecting wildlife and their habitats. The Photo Ark’s three-pronged approach harnesses the power of National Geographic photography and the bold ideas of our explorers. Led by National Geographic Explorer and photographer Joel Sartore, the project aims to document every species living in the world’s zoos and wildlife sanctuaries, inspire action through education, and help save wildlife by supporting on-the-ground conservation efforts.”¹

“I want to get people to care, to fall in love, and to take action.” -Joel Sartore

Joel Sartore with frill necked lizard, Chlamydosaurus kingii, Joel facing the camera, holding his camera, lizard in white photo box. — Joel Sartore with frill-necked lizard, Chlamydosaurus kingii, at a high school in Victoria, Australia, 2017 during a shoot for the National Geographic Photo Ark, natgeophotoark.org. Photo by Douglas Gimesy.

The Photo Ark is the world’s largest collection of animal portraits, documenting species before they disappear. The goal is to get the public to care, while there’s still time. Sartore knows we can save species from extinction. He’s photographed over 15,000 species so far. His goal is to photograph all 25,000 species in captivity in zoos, aquariums, and wildlife sanctuaries around the world. Here’s a short video about his work:

And here’s another video regarding the Photo Ark and the Extinction Crisis:

Lucky Me

I’ve been a big fan of Sartore’s for many years, not just because of his photography but his call for conservation and love for the species we are losing. A few years ago, my spouse even gifted me an autographed copy of Sartore’s National Geographic Photo Basics: The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Great Photography. I wrote about Sartore in 2019 when The Photo Ark Vanishing: The World’s Most Vulnerable Animals was first published. I watched a three-episode documentarian PBS series titled Rare: Creatures of the Photo Ark with my son when he was 6.

When I heard about this event, I knew the tickets would be limited and sell out quickly. That’s why I say I’m lucky that I got a ticket!

From the emails about the event, I expected to attend a 30-minute talk with Joel Sartore and his son, Cole, and then be able to tour the Aquarium. But the talk lasted for an hour, and it was inspiring! They told funny family stories and the journey of the Photo Ark.

Joel Sartore speaking at bottom right, with a large screen projection featuring a bison. — Photo by Marie Cullis.

Joel and Cole Sartore looking out at an audience, wood paneled background. — Photo by Marie Cullis.

The Tennessee Aquarium Exhibit

After, I got to tour the Aquarium and eat fancy hors d’oeuvres. They served beverages in real glasses and used paper plates and bamboo forks for food. I appreciated this since most places in the Southeast still serve everything in plastic and styrofoam.

“Today we are losing species at rates 1,000 times greater than ever before.” -Joel Sartore

I’ve been to the Tennessee Aquarium many times, often with my young son who often flies through exhibits (though this seems to be improving with age). I appreciated the Aquarium more that night, not just because I could linger at my leisure this time, but also because of Sartore’s inspiring words. He called the audience to action in his talk and said that we should find something we are passionate about and do something about it. He said to consider what we can do to help and inspire others to help. I thought I am already doing that! and felt good that I use my website to highlight environmental issues, promote solutions, and inspire others.

There are about two dozen of these large banners of Joel Sartore Photo Ark photography throughout both buildings at the Tennessee Aquarium, and it will run through the end of 2024. You should go see them if you have the opportunity! Here are just a few:

Close up of a southern flying squirrel on a black background. — Southern Flying Squirrel, National Geographic Photo Ark. Banner photographed by Marie Cullis.

Spotted Salamander, black with yellow spots, on white background. — Spotted Salamander, National Geographic Photo Ark. Banner photographed by Marie Cullis.

Close up of a Nashville crayfish, showing head and claws only, on a black background. — Nashville Crayfish, National Geographic Photo Ark. Banner photographed by Marie Cullis.

Macaroni penguin, back facing camera with wings out, white background. — Macaroni Penguin, National Geographic Photo Ark. Banner photographed by Marie Cullis.

Other Exhibits

I’m not a professional photographer, but I captured a couple of cool photographs of my own that evening.

Large blue fish, close up of its face. — Photo by Marie Cullis.

Electric eel staring through an aquarium, red with small eyes. — Electric eel. Photo by Marie Cullis

My favorite exhibits at the Tennessee Aquarium are the ones that teach about plastic, pollution, and saving turtles.

Metal bin with plastic trash collected from the Tennessee River. Exhibit text on lime green background. — Exhibit showing plastic trash collected from the Tennessee River at the Tennessee Aquarium. Photo by Marie Cullis.

Exhibit showing human objects in a river basin, includes a car battery, a tire, a cell phone, and other plastic objects. — Exhibit showing human objects in a river basin at the Tennessee Aquarium. Photo by Marie Cullis.

Exhibit on saving turtles, includes exhibit panels, graphics, and interactive monitor. — Exhibit on saving turtles at the Tennessee Aquarium. Photo by Marie Cullis.

I also took photos of a plastic art piece at the Aquarium and added it to my Plastic Art Projects page.

The best part, for me, was that I got to personally meet Joel Sartore just before I left. I shook his hand and told him how much I loved his work. Our conversation was brief but meaningful, and something I’ll always remember.

“This is the best time ever to save species because so many need our help.” -Joel Sartore

Visit the Tennessee Aquarium when you have the chance! Also, please support The Photo Ark! Thank you for reading, please share and subscribe!

red eyed tree frog, bright green skin, orange feet, red eyes, black background. — Red-eyed tree frog, Agalychnis callidryas, photographed in Seattle, Washington, 2011. Joel Sartore/National Geographic Photo Ark, natgeophotoark.org.

Links:

National Geographic Photo Ark

Joel Sartore

Tennessee Aquarium

Footnote:

April 15, 2023

Tennessee River Clean-Up!

Nickajack Lake on the Tennessee River, water in foreground and hills at center. Bridge at left. Cloudless blue sky at top. — Nickajack Lake on the Tennessee River on the day of the clean-up. Photo by Marie Cullis.

Last year, I read the book, From the Bottom Up: One Man’s Crusade to Clean America’s Rivers by Chad Pregracke. It was about Living Lands & Waters, the organization established by the author to clean up trash along rivers. His story was super inspiring, especially because I love to clean up trash (and would even do it for a living if I could make that work). This organization, based out of Illinois along the Mississippi River, performs large-scale river clean-ups. Since 1998, they have worked on 25 rivers in 21 states, and have conducted more than 1,100 community clean-ups.

“[Living Lands & Waters] hosts dozens of community river cleanups each year to help watershed conservation efforts with the assistance of thousands of volunteers of all ages who are willing to roll up their sleeves and get dirty – individuals, schools, community organizations, businesses and more!”²

So when I discovered that I could get involved with local clean-ups along the Tennessee River, I was more than excited! I was too late to sign up last fall, but this month, I signed up when an opportunity came up near my area.

This one was hosted by Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful and AFTCO (American Fishing Tackle Company) in partnership with Living Lands & Waters. Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful is a nonprofit that serves as the first Keep America Beautiful affiliate in the nation to focus solely on a river. Their mission is to educate and inspire people to take care of the Tennessee River and show the impact of trash. Their volunteer cleanups are held along the 652-mile Tennessee River and its tributaries, an area spanning seven states!³

The Experience

I took my family with me. My son enjoyed riding in the boats and meeting people. He really fed off of the energy of the crew, who took time out to make him feel included. I’m proud that he understood why we were there and that he gets why it’s important at such a young age.

My son talking to a crewmember with a dog on a grassy area. — My son making friends with a crewmember of Living Lands & Waters. She had a dog, and he loves dogs, so it was an easy conversation starter. Photo by Marie Cullis.

My son cleaning up trash along a river bank, holding a yellow bag, boat at right center background, clear blue sky. — He wasn’t afraid to get into the water and clean up trash along the river banks. Photo by Marie Cullis.

My son found a barge line along the shore, tangled in logs. He is trying to pull it out here. — My son found a barge line along the shore, tangled in logs. Photo courtesy of Kathleen Gibi of Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful.

It was a gorgeous day on Nickajack Lake! We picked up so much trash – hundreds of plastic bottles, Styrofoam pieces, tires, broken fishing tackle and line, plastic lighters, plastic bags, food wrappers, glass bottles, and many other pieces of broken plastic items. Even a section of a plastic dock and an entire plastic truck bed liner.

One of the participating kids, Cash Daniels, also known as the Conservation Kid (@theconservationkid), was there with his family. Cash is an avid environmentalist and ocean lover. He has organized many river clean-ups and is also a published author and public speaker. I had read about him before and it was cool to meet him and his family.

The volunteers all worked hard, and the crewmembers were like superheroes!

Their leadership and positivity are what struck me most. Both the executive director of Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful and the crewmembers of Living Lands & Waters were super positive, highly enthusiastic, hard-working, and obviously happy to be doing this!

Flat bottomed boat on the water with one person and heaps of trash. — Dan Breidenstein from Living Lands & Waters with trash loaded onto his boat. Photo by Marie Cullis.

Two women removing a large tire from the water, a shoreline with logs. A dog crosses a log. Two boats in the background with a man loading trash onto one of them. — Kathleen Gibi of Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful with Callie Schaser from Living Lands & Waters, removing a large tire from the water. Photo by Marie Cullis.

People loading trash into a floating boat, background shows lake, land, and bright blue sky. — Loading one of the boats. The black piece in the foreground is the truck bed liner. Photo by Marie Cullis.

By the end of the afternoon, we had loaded two full flat-bottomed boats with trash and debris from just a few shorelines.

Flat bottomed boat on a trailer filled with trash, ties, and other debris. — Full boat of trash. Photo courtesy of Kathleen Gibi of Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful.

Flat bottomed boat on a trailer filled with trash, ties, and other debris. Person with his arm up in the back of the boat. — Second full boat of trash. Photo courtesy of Kathleen Gibi of Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful.

In the end, it was an awesome experience. I recommend that if you’re able and interested, you join a local clean-up in your area. We can all make a difference!

“That’s how the change for our river will happen: through local partners and individuals who are eager about taking ownership to protect and improve their beautiful river community.” -Kathleen Gibi, Executive Director of Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful⁴

Group of people with a boat load of trash behind them, water in background. — Our group photo! Photo courtesy of Kathleen Gibi of Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful.

Remember, the most important thing you can do right now is to stop using disposable items. Especially those made from plastic. Even when you think you are properly disposing or recycling something, so much of it inevitably makes its way into our landscapes. We have to turn off the tap when it comes to disposable items.

I hope to meet you on a future clean-up! Thank you for reading, please share and subscribe!

Footnotes:

November 27, 2022

Hefty EnergyBag Program

In October 2022, I received this Starter Kit in my mailbox (wrapped in plastic film). This program claims to be a solution for recycling all of the non-recyclable plastics that come into our daily lives. Items must be rinsed or cleaned first, of course, and they don’t accept everything. Items they will accept include yogurt containers, Styrofoam or polystyrene take-out containers, plastic packaging, plastic straws, and many others. For a full list please refer to the graphic below. They do not accept items that you can already recycle in your area, such as any plastics #1 and #2. They also do not accept #3 PVC plastics.

The program admittedly sounded exciting, but over the years of doing this, I’ve learned to be skeptical. With this program, I could now recycle all my non-recyclable plastics with this mostly convenient Hefty EnergyBag Program and honestly, it felt too good to be true. So I started looking into it. When I first looked up their website, using the QR code from the mailer, they did not include Tennessee – the closest was Atlanta, Georgia.

Screenshot of their locations from Hefty's website — Screenshot of their locations from Hefty’s website, captured on October 23, 2022.

I started by reaching out to them through their Contact Us page and asked why I received the mailer if the program wasn’t available in my area. A week later, they updated their website and responded to me. They said I could take items bagged in the orange bags to our local recycling center in Chattanooga, Tennessee. They sent the mailers out just a couple of weeks too early.

How does the program work?

Let’s break this down so we can understand how it works. I follow the order on the company’s mailer. This information is also available on their website.⁵

#1: “Consumers must purchase Hefty EnergyBag product.”

The bags, which you must purchase at your own cost, cost about $10.49 per box of 26. This amounts to under $0.41 per bag. Seems cheap, but when compared to Hefty Strong Tall Kitchen Drawstring Trash Bags in the same size (13 Gallon ), those are about $0.18 per bag. That means these special orange bags are more than double the cost of regular trash bags. So right at the beginning, the company is shifting the cost to the consumers. Hefty makes many plastic products that you’re already paying for, so why aren’t they covering the cost of the bags if they really want to do the right thing?

#2: “Hard-to-recycle plastics get collected in the bag.”

Consumers are once again given the responsibility of not only collecting all the items into the special bags, but also understanding which items are and are not eligible.

#3: “Full tied bags can be dropped off at any of the designated recycling centers in the area.”

It refers to their website for locations. The bags are not collected curbside; they must be dropped off at a designated place. Where I live, I must take the bags to the recycling center. I’m not sure of the reason for this. While some people will participate, many residents won’t recycle anything unless it is picked up curbside.

#4: “The normal recycling truck collects and delivers the bags to a local Recycling Facility (MRF) as a part of normal service.”

This statement is confusing since it seems like they mean the curbside recycling truck will pick it up as part of the normal service, but it means that the orange bags will be collected at the recycling center on a regular basis and taken to the MRF facility.

Buckhorn Mesa landfill in Arizona, image shows mountain of colorful trash and a bulldozer at top, clear blue sky in background. — Buckhorn Mesa landfill in Arizona, photo by Alan Levine on Flickr, Creative Commons license (CC BY 2.0).

#5: “Bags are sorted at the MRF and sent to a facility for use as valued resources.”

This is where the process gets muddled because our local Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) does not ship or sell plastics #3-#7. They landfill those materials. I’ve also read that most MRFs will not open and sort recyclables that are in plastic bags. Will they make an exception for the Hefty EnergyBag Program orange bags? I was curious to know if our local MRF, which is WestRock, has made a commitment to participate in this specific program, and if not, what will they do with the orange bags? I emailed Hefty (Reynolds Consumer Products is the parent company) with the following questions:

1) Your website indicates that these bags go to our local MRF for sorting. However, if our local MRF currently landfills plastics #3-#7, how do we know these items will get used for another purpose and not be landfilled?

2) Do you know if our local MRF is now participating in this Hefty program? Have they made a specific commitment for the Hefty EnergyBag Program?

3) Is it up to each individual MRF to decide what to do with the orange bags?

4) Have the MRFs preselected end-of-life partners (this term was extracted from your 2020 life cycle assessment)?

I wish I could include their response, but unfortunately, I have now sent this request 3 times and still have not received a reply.

More recently, I sent a list of similar questions to our local MRF, WestRock, but I have not yet received a response.⁶

#6: “The collected plastics can become an energy resource, feedstock for fuels or new products, or ground into smaller pieces to make new plastic building products and plastic lumber.”

Hefty indicates that these plastics can be reused to create energy, lowering our need for petroleum or new fossil fuels. On their website, under their header “PLASTIC WASTE IS MORE VALUABLE THAN YOU THINK,” they advertise that these plastics can be used for the following purposes:

- - Alternative fuel for manufacturing cement, reducing the need for natural resources like coal
  - Aggregate material for concrete blocks, plastic lumber, and other building products
  - New plastic products such as park benches, and Adirondack chairs
  - Feedstocks that can be refined into high-grade fuels or converted back into plastics

I wish plastic waste were actually valuable, because most of the time, it isn’t. Most plastics go to a landfill.

The above information came from a study that Reynolds Consumer Products commissioned, from the Sustainable Solutions Corporation, a company that helps envision and design sustainable solutions for companies. The “intended use of this study is to determine the environmental benefits of alternative end-of-life options currently utilized in the Hefty® EnergyBag® program compared to a traditional trash bag (Flex Bag) sent to landfill.” One of the main goals is “to create a more sustainable future by diverting this waste [from the landfill] and utilizing the material as a valued resource.”⁷

Full orange trash bag sitting on a street or sidewalk. — Photo from Rawpixel.com (CC0).

Does this mean the Hefty EnergyBag Program is a ploy?

Maybe. Hefty indicates that “the function of the Hefty® EnergyBag® orange bag is to serve as an alternative household waste bag to collect and divert difficult-to-recycle plastics from landfill.”⁸ A worthy goal, but I don’t know that it is actually happening. They are shifting the cost and effort to the consumer and the MRF. It also sounds like they are allowing the MRF to decide what to do with these items. However, most MRFs cannot sell “hard to recycle” plastics to manufacturers because there is just so much of it and it’s of little value.

In my area, I believe the Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) landfills the plastics that the Hefty EnergyBag Program collects. Perhaps that will change soon, and if it does, I will update this article! But it is worth asking your local MRF if they are participating in this program. Be direct and let them know you’ll be spending extra money on these bags and that you’d like to know if they are able to sort and sell or ship the materials.

Marketing (or Greenwashing?)

Hefty wants all of this non-recyclable plastic, including the plastics they manufacture, to stop going to landfills. So they paid for a study showing how these plastics could be used. But they themselves have nothing to do with the recycling or end-of-life use of these plastics. So, Hefty looks like they are doing the right thing, while earning more profits from selling the orange bags. They are not stopping plastic production at the source, even within their own company.

Is this just an excuse to justify the continued production of single-use disposable plastic products?

This is likely just a marketing campaign in order to increase their appearance of sustainability. If Hefty wanted to make a real difference, they would cover the cost of the bags for consumers, and/or cover some of the costs for the MRFs to do the extra collection and sorting. Even more, Hefty could have those plastics sent to them directly and they could reuse them in their own products.

I imagine it will be easy to spot these bright orange bags in landfills 50 years from now.

I hope this is helpful. Thanks for reading, please share and subscribe!

Footnotes:

June 22, 2022

Book review: Trashlands: A Novel, by Alison Stine

Trashlands: A Novel book cover I typically review only non-fiction books, but this fictional tale hit too close to home and I have to share it with you!

This dystopian novel offers a glimpse into a dark future if we don’t make great changes in our current world. The story takes place decades from now and the remnants of wasted resources and excessive plastic abound. Due to global warming, sea levels rose drastically. Americans constructed levees to keep the rising sea level back but those eventually collapsed and caused the great floods. “After the sea walls would not be rebuilt. The roads would not be repaired. Maps had been redrawn with the oceans farther inland…There were no homes.” The main characters live in Scrappalachia, in “the center of the United States,” an area that “became the great vast orchards of scrap” after the floods. They live in old vehicles or make-shift shacks next to Trashlands, a strip club.

“They followed the plastic tide. After the floods destroyed the coasts, rewrote the maps with more blue, something was in the water that lapped at Ohio and Georgia and Pennsylvania. Plastic. People learned quickly that it was useful. It had to be.”

Few forests and natural areas and bodies of clean water exist, thus animals and wildlife are rare. As one person remarks, “People make everything go extinct.” That statement is striking because it’s sadly true. In reality, we are causing the mass extinction of thousands of species right now. In the book, only the older generation could recall things we take for granted, like running water, the internet, or kids playing in autumn leaves. Books are rare since the floods destroyed many of them. An older man recalled the U.S. postal system, which had stopped gradually:

“Roads had been washed away. There were gas shortages, price gouges. Letters piled up, were lost or stolen. Strikes happened…Hospitals closed just when the stream of patients, their lungs filled with water or smoke, became untenable. Groceries couldn’t keep bottled water, rice, or meat on the shelves. It became more common to see plastic bottles than crops in a field. The ground was too saturated to plant…No one knew to collect the plastic yet. No one knew it was all they would have.“

Plastic and trash debris floating in water with fish swimming around it. — Photo by Naja Bertolt Jensen on Unsplash

In this future, plastic is a highly valuable resource and people can’t understand why previous generations ever wasted it or discarded it. They struggle to believe that plastic items were once created to be disposable or made for single-use, such as plastic forks. But most plastic had been packaging. One character muses, “What a world that must have been, to have had to protect everything.” A young woman finds what had been a plastic trash can, but didn’t know what it was. Someone older explains that people used to throw stuff away and needed a place to store their ‘trash’ before removing it from their homes.

Plastic drives all aspects of life. ‘Pluckers’ collect and sell plastic waste to factories for little profit in order to survive. The factories reprocess the plastic into plastic bricks and other items. Factory owners sometimes kidnap young children from the poor and force them to work in the factories. Children’s hands are small, which allows them to do a better job at sorting the plastics.

“Yes, people knew that plastic was poison, but they didn’t care. They wanted to make money.”

Junkyard and piles of scrap, incudling a damaged car. — Photo by Evan Demicoli on Unsplash

This novel presents a brilliant concept, an uncertain future drastically changed by the climate crisis. This future is full of sexual assault, rape, and violence. Women live with made-up “families” in order to protect themselves. Some characters feel that women could run the world better than men, and had even come close to doing so at one time.

“[Women] would all do a real fine job of running a world. You know it. I know it. And men know it. That’s why they hold them back.”

I really enjoyed this book and found the perspective really impactful. I hope the world doesn’t come to this! Perhaps we, as a global community, can unite and tackle the effects of climate change. Feel free to comment below on what you thought of the book. Thanks for reading, please share and subscribe!