Trash handling aboard

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JWellington

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Lately I've been reading up a bit on regs and trends in trash handling. Heard many mentions about cutting the bottoms out of wine bottles, for example , before tossing them overboard. But none mentioned any benefit for the hassle. Bottles sink anyway. In my day everybody just threw everything overboard, including black water tanks, as long as one was 3 or 12 miles out. Whats with this bottle thing?
 
Yes, I've heard of the practice and know boaters who do it. I won't becasue it litters the bottom with trash. When dragging the bottom for biological research samples it is alarming how much trash comes up. I had room for the full bottles when I left on the cruise, I still have room for the empties till I get back.
 
JWellington said:
Lately I've been reading up a bit on regs and trends in trash handling. Heard many mentions about cutting the bottoms out of wine bottles, for example , before tossing them overboard. But none mentioned any benefit for the hassle. Bottles sink anyway. In my day everybody just threw everything overboard, including black water tanks, as long as one was 3 or 12 miles out. Whats with this bottle thing?
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Don't know where you're reading, but I'd suggest changing libraries. Just because one can, doesn't mean one should. As to wine bottles, we don't empty any at sea as none consumed when underway. However, we don't throw anything overboard that isn't biodegradable and we macerate and treat even that. We do have a compactor for can's, paper, etc. We generally don't use glass on board. I realize that if one is in 2000' of water, it probably doesn't matter, but I just see no reason to do so.
 
Portage_Bay said:
Yes, I've heard of the practice and know boaters who do it. I won't becasue it litters the bottom with trash. When dragging the bottom for biological research samples it is alarming how much trash comes up. I had room for the full bottles when I left on the cruise, I still have room for the empties till I get back.
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All the glass is on the bottom either way. Room for the empies? Geeez. Imagine...4pax on boat, 3 or 4 weeks at sea....say 2 bottles per day. Sure you had them at start, but most dont want to have them around. Anyway trash in the sea or landfills...most not recycled. Im in dominican right now and all glass is just thrown in garbage.
 
We have learned the following that works for us and reduce the amount of trash to shore.

1. While at the dock, go through all you ship stores. If the item is in a box, take it out and mark it. Cut or mark the cooking instructions. This save a lot of space and trash.

2. You may like bottled beer, but switch to cans. crush the cans. A small kitchen waste basket holds a lot of crushed cans. You can also crush veggie cans after you rinse them.

3. Boxed wine instead of bottle. I know this is almost forbidden, at least to my wife.

4. Take a large coffee can and use it for biologicals. Food scraps, peels etc. Once outside your anchorage, dump the scraps overboard.

5. Rinse things out before placing them in the trash. This will cut down any smells.

Reduce the on-board trash items as much as you can. Once you get to a marina that accepts trash, you will have less to deposit.

Remember, burning your trash on shore in B.C. is illegal and you could be cited if LEO catches you doing so.

I am sure there are other items that can be left at shore to reduce your trash.
 
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We use a lot of box wines aboard... cardbordeaux... really some like black box aren't too bad. If cruising extended times it easy to remove outer box ashore and put bladders in a drawer or box for storage. One original outer box let's you handle & pour easily. Beer cans compress & store easily for recycling alum.
Unpacking groceries ashore eliminates a lot of bulk.
 
Don't know about Canada but US and many countries follow MARPOL regulations by treaty.

Many places you can dump darn near anything overboard...in the Arctic it winds up sitting on the ice much of the year.
 
I think the bottle thing is about a small creature going in though neck and growing, then not being able to get out...
 
When racing to Bermuda aboard our 40' sailboat, we de-carboard all packaging, throw any food items over the side and purchase quick composting biodegradable paper products which also goes over the side. All plastic items are cut up and put in a garbage bag.

After a 4 day trip with 4 people on board, we barely fill half a tall kitchen trash bag.
 
psneeld said:
Don't know about Canada but US and many countries follow MARPOL regulations by treaty.

Many places you can dump darn near anything overboard...in the Arctic it winds up sitting on the ice much of the year.
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I think I just read MARPOL says anything 12_miles out is ok.
 
Osprey69 said:
When racing to Bermuda aboard our 40' sailboat, we de-carboard all packaging, throw any food items over the side and purchase quick composting biodegradable paper products which also goes over the side. All plastic items are cut up and put in a garbage bag.

After a 4 day trip with 4 people on board, we barely fill half a tall kitchen trash bag.
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Try 4 WEEKS, 4 or 5 people.
 
We try and avoid dumping ANYTHING into the water! The old adage "take only pictures, leave only footprints" could be paraphrased to "take only what you can keep until you can leave it ashore."
 
I was never one for luxuries on my boat, but I really found the trash compactor to be extremely helpful when out at sea for a week or more.

Wish I could fit an incinerator onboard like the big ships do.
 
I return to the OP and others talking about throwing trash in the ocean and ask, "What is the problem you're having and trying to address?" Are you cruising months without going near shore? Is it cans, cardboard, glass? The example used of wine bottles just seems so obvious to me, that you rinse it and put it right back where you got it. If you don't go anywhere for more wine, then the space is available. If you go for more, then that's where you dispose of the bottle.

I just don't grasp the burden that is forcing people to dump in the ocean. Perhaps those who spend months at sea and far from any land, but I don't know many of those active here and the ones I do know are not the ones indicating a problem.

I choose not to litter but it's not just because of laws against littering. I've never been in a situation in which it was necessary. Even if it's cans, crush them and you have less than you brought with you. Even cardboard, less than at the start. Only thing we put in the water is food. So will someone please explain the need and desire to me.

Thanks.
 
BandB said:
I return to the OP and others talking about throwing trash in the ocean and ask, "What is the problem you're having and trying to address?" Are you cruising months without going near shore? Is it cans, cardboard, glass? The example used of wine bottles just seems so obvious to me, that you rinse it and put it right back where you got it. If you don't go anywhere for more wine, then the space is available. If you go for more, then that's where you dispose of the bottle.



I just don't grasp the burden that is forcing people to dump in the ocean. Perhaps those who spend months at sea and far from any land, but I don't know many of those active here and the ones I do know are not the ones indicating a problem.



I choose not to litter but it's not just because of laws against littering. I've never been in a situation in which it was necessary. Even if it's cans, crush them and you have less than you brought with you. Even cardboard, less than at the start. Only thing we put in the water is food. So will someone please explain the need and desire to me.



Thanks.
Click to expand...
Good point.
 
BandB said:
I return to the OP and others talking about throwing trash in the ocean and ask, "What is the problem you're having and trying to address?" Are you cruising months without going near shore? Is it cans, cardboard, glass? The example used of wine bottles just seems so obvious to me, that you rinse it and put it right back where you got it. If you don't go anywhere for more wine, then the space is available. If you go for more, then that's where you dispose of the bottle.

I just don't grasp the burden that is forcing people to dump in the ocean. Perhaps those who spend months at sea and far from any land, but I don't know many of those active here and the ones I do know are not the ones indicating a problem.

I choose not to litter but it's not just because of laws against littering. I've never been in a situation in which it was necessary. Even if it's cans, crush them and you have less than you brought with you. Even cardboard, less than at the start. Only thing we put in the water is food. So will someone please explain the need and desire to me.

Thanks.
Click to expand...


Absolutely. We do not throw anything in the water. It all adds up.
 
Don't want to become a "target"....but biggest difference is in international vs. domestic travel. Domestic, no excuses, but international (Central America, Caribbean) can be difficult. Several times where there was a trash receptacle, it was overflowing. So trash gets washed to sea/beach etc. Other times, a local will take it for a $1 or 2 rhan ditch it in mangrove etc. So sometimes you sink what you can (in very deep water), burn what you can, and minimize your footprint as muxh as possible.
 
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
 
Sealife said:
Don't want to become a "target"....but biggest difference is in international vs. domestic travel. Domestic, no excuses, but international (Central America, Caribbean) can be difficult. Several times where there was a trash receptacle, it was overflowing. So trash gets washed to sea/beach etc. Other times, a local will take it for a $1 or 2 rhan ditch it in mangrove etc. So sometimes you sink what you can (in very deep water), burn what you can, and minimize your footprint as muxh as possible.
Click to expand...

We've done lots of international cruising and were always able to find ways to handle our trash. Yes, sometimes receptacles overflowing, but same problem domestically. Had only a couple of times we had to wait for the next stop. Admittedly, we don't always know what the international marina will end up doing with our trash.

Do appreciate your response.
 
BandB said:
I return to the OP and others talking about throwing trash in the ocean and ask, "What is the problem you're having and trying to address?" Are you cruising months without going near shore? Is it cans, cardboard, glass? The example used of wine bottles just seems so obvious to me, that you rinse it and put it right back where you got it. If you don't go anywhere for more wine, then the space is available. If you go for more, then that's where you dispose of the bottle.

I just don't grasp the burden that is forcing people to dump in the ocean. Perhaps those who spend months at sea and far from any land, but I don't know many of those active here and the ones I do know are not the ones indicating a problem.

I choose not to litter but it's not just because of laws against littering. I've never been in a situation in which it was necessary. Even if it's cans, crush them and you have less than you brought with you. Even cardboard, less than at the start. Only thing we put in the water is food. So will someone please explain the need and desire to me.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

No problem if you want to carry garbage around with you for weeks on end. Most dont. Nobody even suggested anybody was 'forcing' them to.
 
BandB said:
We've done lots of international cruising and were always able to find ways to handle our trash. Yes, sometimes receptacles overflowing, but same problem domestically. Had only a couple of times we had to wait for the next stop. Admittedly, we don't always know what the international marina will end up doing with our trash.

Do appreciate your response.
Click to expand...

In landfill or sea, not much difference for stuff like wine bottles, tin cans, etc.
 
The only thing that makes sense to me to dump is biodegradeable food waste. If you'd be keeping it on board for more than a few days to a week otherwise, it'll get gross and stinky. And it's got minimal impact to dump, provided it's not in overly large pieces (I think regs require maceration to 1" or smaller) and not a massive quantity all at once.



Everything else can stay on board. As others pointed out, if there was space for it before use, there's space for it after.
 
"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."
 
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