By Kyle Schaefer
(Originally appeared in Tail 36 – July/August 2018)
As fly anglers, we are some of the luckiest people on the planet. We have a great privilege that allows us to access the wildest and most untamed environments. We get a front row seat to the beauty of this delicate world. Fly fishing has become synonymous with conservation, environmental protection, and stewardship, which is an honor for anglers to take part in, but comes with a great responsibility. As stewards of this earth, we have the opportunity to lessen our impact everyday as we continue to learn how our habits affect the world around us.
Plastics are silently taking over our oceans and waterways. Our current trajectory supports a staggering projection: there could be more pounds of plastic in our waters than fish by the year 2050.
Single-use plastics are consumed everyday with the major culprits including plastic bags, single-use water bottles, to-go containers, takeaway cups and straws (5gyres.org). As consumers, we have the power to make changes that protect our waters and the marine life that depend on them. These changes only require a small shift in thinking and, of course, action to back it up.
The anatomy of our plastic problem is as complex as it is simple. We use far too many single-use plastics. Eight million metric tons enter the ocean every year (5gyres.org). You may be thinking “well, I recycle,” but the truth is less than 30 percent of plastic single-use water bottles are actually processed in the recycling system. These wasted plastics enter our waters, begin to breakdown into smaller pieces, and act as sponges for toxic chemicals that have accumulated in the environment.
A single microbead of plastic is a magnet for pollutants, and can be one million times more toxic than the water around it (5gyres.org). The compounding toxicity levels of our plastic trash can have big implications as they invade the food chain. They show up in fish markets and end up in our bodies. “Microplastics have been found in mussels wherever scientists have looked,” says Amy Lusher, a NIVA researcher. According to Lia Colabello, Costa Sunglasses Kick Plastic Cause Ambassador, a single plate of mussels can contain up to 90 pieces of microplastic.
Plastic is an amazing material, but it never truly biodegrades, so why are we utilizing it in so many single-use applications? The answer comes down to economics: it is cheap for corporations to package in plastic, and our environment is paying dearly for it. It’s not all bad news though; we can reduce our dependence on plastic and take back our oceans by making some small changes in our daily habits.
Americans use three million plastic water bottles every hour of every day (5gyres.org), so let’s start there. Fishing guides all over the world have relied on plastic water bottles to keep clients hydrated and happy on the water. Typically you’ll find a cooler stocked with single-use bottles, so let’s track that plastic across the guide season. Let’s say a guide spends 150 days on the water with an average of two clients. This single operation has the potential of producing 1,200 plastic waste bottles every year. When you magnify this footprint across the worldwide guiding community, it’s easy to understand how big the impact is.
The barriers have never been so low to incorporate reusable water bottles into every guide’s routine. Through its Kick Plastic Guide and Outfitter Program, Costa has rallied companies like YETI and Klean Kanteen to provide guides with the tools to NEVER purchase a plastic water bottle again. It just takes a shift in thinking and a small initial investment to switch to reusable bottles. Nick Colas estimates that consumers are buying bottled water for 2,000 times the cost of tap water. Over a single season, guides could be saving hundreds of dollars by switching to reusable water bottles while protecting their fisheries in the process.
Guides are in the perfect position to inspire progress on this issue. As role models in the fishing community, they have a vested interest in the resource and have the power to influence change. We are at a crossroads and our choice is clear. We must reduce our plastic intake if we want healthy waterways and oceans throughout the world. And we all need to think about how much plastic we are consuming, whether it’s water bottles, plastic bags, disposable utensils or anything else, and find reusable alternatives.
In 2016, Costa helped facilitate the removal of plastic water bottles from the largest guiding operation in the U.S., WorldCast Anglers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The successful elimination of plastic water bottles across the 43- person guiding staff has had a huge impact and sets an important precedent. More and more companies are taking steps to reduce plastic consumption, and we all need to play our part.
Costa Sunglasses has been a major advocate for the issue and has invested a lot of energy into their #kickplastic initiative, setting a goal to kick plastic in every guide operation in North America by 2026. Let’s all join the fight to take back our waterways and oceans: the fish deserve a plastic-free ocean and so do our children and grandchildren.
Costa has continued their mission by looking at their own footprint, analyzing everything from packaging to manufacturing materials and taking steps to mitigate their impact. Recently, they teamed up with Oliver White to help eliminate plastic water bottles from Abaco Lodge and Bair’s Lodge in the Bahamas. Oliver said, “it was a no-brainer to participate in the Kick Plastic Campaign with Costa.” Ultimately, he is saving money while protecting the environment.
Bringing awareness to this issue is the first step. Look around the grocery store, your coffee shop or any retail environment, and note the epidemic of single-use plastics that surround you. These plastics may end up in the ocean and negatively affect our waters for countless years to come. We all need to take a stand against it today.
What action can you take?
-REDUCE: Find reusable alternatives for water, coffee, grocery shopping etc. and always bring them with you.
-INFORM: Talk to your friends and family and become an influencer on this issue.
-BE AWARE: Continue to be aware of the single-use plastic you consume everyday and take steps to reduce it.
-CHOOSE: Spend your dollars wisely. Place a higher value on the environment than short-term conveniences and look for products made from recycled materials (check out this issue’s gear guide for some reusable and recycled products we love).
-ACT: Support responsible brands and check out the plastic-free shopping guide.
