Stewardship Tip May 25th, 2010- Picnics
Memorial Day, in the United States, officially starts the picnic season, or at least, so it seems. Dining in the great outdoors usually compliments a nice afternoon of fishing and can rejuvenate the spirit.
For your next picnic, take along an old set of plates, cups, and silverware (non breakable is preferred but if you can get some old china out to the field and back again without breaking it, more power to you. Come to think of it, some nice Wexford china and Waterford Crystal might add a touch of class to your next picnic, take it at your own risk, though). If you are a fan of picnic baskets, you can rig up your basket with your rugged service in advance, that way, you are ready to go when picnic time comes. When you get home, wash your service and put it right back in the basket.
In many cases, you may not have enough plates, cups, knives, forks, and spoons. If you will be serving a number of people at your next picnic, consider buying biodegradeable picnic ware. There was a time, and not too long ago, when you just couldn’t find biodegradeable plates. However, many vendors, such as Greenpaperproducts.com, offer biodegradeable plates, cups, knives, and forks at competitive prices. If you do use biodegradeable picnic ware, make sure to compost them when you are done rather than placing them in the trash.
Why it is important to the fish: Unfortunately, styrofoam plates and plastic silverware are associated with picnics. Styrofoam, or more properly, expanded polystyrene (EPS) is inexpensive to produce and, at first glance seems extremely convenient. EPS, though, is one of those things that we use once, toss it in the trash, and it lasts in a landfill, virtually, forever.
There is also evidence that styrene acts as an endocrine disruptor. Recent studies have suggested that styrene mimics estrogen in the body and can disrupt normal hormone functions in fish. The estrogenicity of styrene is thought to be comparable to that of bis-phenol A, another potent estrogen mimic from the world of plastics. This should not come as a surprise. bis-phenol A is a building block for polycarbonate plastics and polystyrene resins.
Using biodegradable alternatives to not only keeps EPS plates and cups out of landfills it also reduces the chance that styrenes can have an adverse affect on our fish.
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VENTAFISH™ was designed to save fish and conserve our fisheries for future generations. It is a fish “fizzing” tool that can be used on both fresh and saltwater fishVENTAFISH™ meets current state and federal regulations for fish venting tools. The folks at Ventafish work closely with researchers to develop ways to improve the fish evelop ways to improve the fish
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