JWellington
Guru
- Joined
- Apr 22, 2021
- Messages
- 655
"Under federal law, it is illegal to toss ANY garbage from a boat while you are anywhere in lakes, rivers, bays, sounds, and offshore in the ocean less than 3 miles."
In my language and opinion...garbage is different than trash.
I believe MARPOL.. addresses this somewhat.
Garbage will generally cause a health hazard if not attended to well if kept onboard....trash to a much lesser degree.
For most people garbage and trash are synonyms.
That is your opinion...the way landlubbers see it....but mine is because I hang around mariners who know/get the difference between organic and not.
Higher standards for Alaska? Unless you are talking cruise ships."Ships operating close to the USA can’t discharge untreated sewage inside the 3 mile limit. Once outside that, they can, except for the waters surrounding Alaska. There is a higher standard for those areas."
Higher standards for Alaska? Unless you are talking cruise ships.
This thread reminds me of stopping for a few days at Beaver Island in Lake Michigan. The interior of the island is a junkyard. Everything on the island arrives by ferry. So when something is worn out, you discard it on your property for free or pay the ferry cost to have it removed. Obviously biodegradable stuff isn't a problem, but there are hundreds of cars and trucks littering a great number of the properties. Add refrigerators, washers, dryers, and just about anything people or businesses have that goes bad.
I don't give 3rd world countries a blanket pass, but there's just no excuse in 1st world countries. If you're ok with dropping garbage in the ocean while out cruising for a week, would you be ok with somebody dropping the same garbage in your yard? Do you think you're some how better because your garbage isn't littering your yard?
Ted
Who said they were ok with dumping on a one week cruise? Tell me his name and ill have harsh words with him!
"Most normally, yachts will follow a similar strategy as other sea faring vessels, in that they release waste straightforwardly into the seas. Many the advanced vessels have holding tanks for human waste (dark water), yet wastewater (dim water) is generally emptied into the actual sea."
Glass isn't really littering. It sits on the bottom and slowly turns back into sand. The reason the bottoms are cut out is the shape makes them have a tendency to float. If/when water partially fills the body, it goes to the bottom and tips the neck up and can float around for a long time like that. Plus the sharp edges tend to promote the breakdown faster than the thick, rounded mouth and smooth sides.
Think about how you find seaglass
Glass isn't really littering. It sits on the bottom and slowly turns back into sand. The reason the bottoms are cut out is the shape makes them have a tendency to float. If/when water partially fills the body, it goes to the bottom and tips the neck up and can float around for a long time like that. Plus the sharp edges tend to promote the breakdown faster than the thick, rounded mouth and smooth sides.
Think about how you find seaglass
One thing often ignored is that 'proper disposal' of most trash means burying it in a local landfill. I don't see why that's any better than burying at sea for a lot of items like glass or organic waste.
Glass isn't really littering. It sits on the bottom and slowly turns back into sand.
From the IMO:
Some specifics since misinformation abounds, they address food waste and things in wastewater as permitted at various distances, then animal carcasses, they recommend 100 nm and deep, and that leaves:
All other garbage including plastics, synthetic ropes, fishing gear, plastic
garbage bags, incinerator ashes, clinkers, cooking oil, floating dunnage,
lining and packing materials, paper, rags, glass, metal, bottles, crockery
and similar refuse. All those items are prohibited from discharge at any distance from shore.
These are the rules we follow.
I think the Chart found here from USCG is a bit more informative:
https://homeport.uscg.mil/Lists/Con...96&Source=/Lists/Content/DispForm.aspx?ID=896
It also contradicts what you stated above.
Actually it doesn't as it only speaks of the US waters up to 12 nm. It's not really saying you can do it after 12 nm, just that the USCG only restricts up to 12 nm. What I stated is directly from the Marpol chart I linked to. It's made more confusing as not all countries adopted Marpol V.
Regardless of the complexity and seeming contradiction, we follow the Marpol Annex V as shown on IMO's website which basically means we don't toss solid objects overboard at any distance from shore.
From the IMO:
For a long while, many people believed that the oceans could absorb anything that was thrown into them, but this attitude has changed along with greater awareness of the environment. Many items can be degraded by the seas - but this process can take months or years.
Persuading people not to use the oceans as a rubbish tip is a matter of education - the old idea that the sea can cope with anything still prevails to some extent but it also involves much more vigorous enforcement of regulations such as MARPOL Annex V.
Now here is Marpol Annex V. https://wwwcdn.imo.org/localresourc... provisions of the revised MARPOL Annex V.pdf
And the discussion: https://www.imo.org/en/OurWork/Environment/Pages/Garbage-Default.aspx
Some specifics since misinformation abounds, they address food waste and things in wastewater as permitted at various distances, then animal carcasses, they recommend 100 nm and deep, and that leaves:
All other garbage including plastics, synthetic ropes, fishing gear, plastic
garbage bags, incinerator ashes, clinkers, cooking oil, floating dunnage,
lining and packing materials, paper, rags, glass, metal, bottles, crockery
and similar refuse. All those items are prohibited from discharge at any distance from shore.
These are the rules we follow.
Glass is recyclable. It's also ground up and added to asphalt.
Ted
Right , not all adopted, not all enforce, and most boaters do what they want......toss overboard.
No, most boaters don't. Most don't throw glass and paper and plastic overboard. But then you have in mind you're going to do what you want anyway. I can't stop you. Can only offer my opinion. Marpol was brought up so I quoted it and linked to it. That's without even getting into the requirements for placards for 12 meters and up and for garbage management plans for 100 gross tonnage and for garbage record books for 400 gross tonnage.
Boaters , like fisfermen, lie a lot, and most dont have boats over 100t, muchless 400tons. Scenario: you 4 others....46 days from panama to tahiti....your holding tank is full, salon full of stinking garbage, dead cat in feezer. Youre at day 30, going crazy from living in your garbage. What will YOU do?.
Do you have a boat that you'd make that run for 46 days from Panama to Tahiti? Why would your holding tank be full? You're perfectly ok emptying it at sea. We would. And why is your salon full of stinking garbage? It's fine to toss all food and you should rinse and wash any foodstuffs. I'm not sure why your cat is in the freezer or perhaps feezer, but you're 100 nm from land and can toss animal carcass. It is biodegradable. So, if you're living in garbage at that point, you're a fool. Throwing a glass wine bottle overboard isn't an issue. If it is, perhaps you should lay off the wine and the whine.
Boats travel at sea all the time and don't have to resort to tossing wine bottles. Sure is a slow boat to take 46 days, as that's a speed of less than 4 knots.
I'll add this. Is there a reason for not stopping at any of the islands along the way and running non stop? Remarkable range, must be sails. What boat are you doing this in, JWellington? A troller?