SeaWeek in Dunedin
Metiria marked SeaWeek in Dunedin today by decorating Dunedin’s drains with beautiful chalk reminders that the water that goes down them ends up untreated in waterways and the sea. Poisons such as cement, paint, and soapy water from car washing are a serious threat to marine plants and animals.
The Dunedin City Council is currently calling for submissions on its Proposed Resource Recovery and Waste Management Strategy for 2006/7 to 2015/16. The draft document doesn’t suggest any specific educational targets or methods for educating the public about the threat of wastewater on marine life.
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March 9th, 2006 at 1:08 am
In the UK, with smoking about to be banned in pubs, campaigners and councils have been handing smokers butt pouches to put their butts in. A quarter of a million so far.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4760240.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/wear/4700956.stm
There should be more haz waste collection points and education. Carrot and stick to stop people washing their toxic waste down the drain. Reduce reuse recycle.
March 9th, 2006 at 10:29 am
Not being facitious, but where does the chalk go? Is it safe for the sea?
March 9th, 2006 at 11:01 am
…so is this still the city that still discharges only partially treated sewage straight off the city beaches at St Kilda? I think the drains are the least of the problem.
March 9th, 2006 at 12:24 pm
Chalk is completely safe for the sea, there is a load of chalk in the sea already (i.e. plankton shells!). The colour is the only thing that may be a worry - I have no idea what chalk colour is made of.
March 9th, 2006 at 12:51 pm
Coloured chalk is used by small children for drawing, and therefore is most likely to be non-toxic.
March 15th, 2006 at 11:01 am
Yes, they used “non-toxic” chalk.
April 12th, 2006 at 8:42 pm
Ummm, its all very well to be facetious about chalk… but why isn’t frog or his followers jumping up and down about yesterday’s decision by the minister of fisheries to increase sea lion kill quotas by more than fifty per cent, without the science to back him up?
DUnedin of all places should be making some noise to protect the only mainland population of the WORLD”S most endangered sea lion.
If we suggested a kill quota for hector’s dolphins (similar numbers of them in the wild) or kiwi, the whole country would be up in arms.
June 18th, 2008 at 5:43 am
True. But something can be done to regulate the water from car washing. This can be treated once using a public water treatment plant and then can be directed into the sea.
Toxins would thus be removed and the treated water will never affect the marine plants and animals.