Do You Dump Your Trash Over Board?

[monte]

Interesting topic I assumed the best practice was to keep all rubbish on board except food scraps. I thought filling bottles with water and dropping overboard is bad form but it's interesting to see the other side of the argument.

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

... and that trawlers get pissed about pulling out the garbage.

Consider what a trawl net does to the bottom? They've got absolutely nothing to complain about since it strikes me as a high-impact form of fishing. I've seen the sea grasses floating up behind them. I suspect if it were not traditional it would be banned (imagine what your application would read like). And I suspect any trash they collect was the results of off-shore trash dumps, not sailors.

[psneeld]

If you have been there and done that, know the MARPOL regs and have a bit of experience diving to know what survives on the ocean flor and what doesn't...you know what to do.

It's not rocket science and you have the right to do whatever is legal...

Puffing out your chest and declaring others as "worldly slobs" shows a lack of experience in the big scheme of things.

[Pelagic]

Very good posts thinwater.

Sailors are not the problem

[BandB]

Originally Posted by psneeld

If you have been there and done that, know the MARPOL regs and have a bit of experience diving to know what survives on the ocean flor and what doesn't...you know what to do.

It's not rocket science and you have the right to do whatever is legal...

Puffing out your chest and declaring others as "worldly slobs" shows a lack of experience in the big scheme of things.

Seems simple. Follow the rules or in this case the regs. Someone made the point earlier that if you brought it on board it takes no more space now than it did then. Now we do have and strongly encourage trash compactors. With one, it then takes far less space than it did initially. And saying you go long periods with no available place to take trash again overlooks that it's less than you brought aboard and when you do go somewhere to re-provision then that's a time to get rid of trash.

Food wastes, we use a disposal as on land and then dispose of it as we do other wastes/sewage. Macerated and chemically treated when off shore, pump out when at dock.

Actually the only thing we've run across that was at all complicated was steak bones (or chops). The answer to that has been to not purchase steaks or chops with bones for long cruises. But on those occasions we do have them, we either put in compactor and hold for land or toss them separately in areas greater than 12 miles out and not in special areas.

[ka4wja]

Delancey,
My two cents....
Once you've seen the beautiful undeveloped beaches and islands around the world, strewn with trash of all kinds, you'll never toss anything into the sea that isn't quickly food for something in the ocean, or that first came out of your own body!!!



1) Chuck's procedures are what I do as well...(and I suspect that almost everyone else does too!)

Originally Posted by AnchorageGuy

We have been cruising as a couple for over 23 years and have done offshore passages over multiple days. The trash has accumulated at times, but it NEVER went over the side. In remote areas, we have taken the trash ashore and dug a pit, burned it and then buried it. At times there was no other option. Mostly we get rid of a great deal of trash before we leave for long voyages. If there is no other choice, the trash bags are stored in the dinghy or aft deck until we reach shore again. It's very much in the planning that keeps the problem to a minimum. Chuck

BTW, I started cruising as kid in the 1960's, and we always did as Chuck wrote above....so, I never thought of doing it any other way...and actually can't imagine anyone not doing it this way..





2) Now to be clear, on a long offshore passage, food garbage is a different story....
Steak bones, orange peels, melon rinds, etc. are tossed over (as long as we are well offshore)....



3) I keep a "clean wake"....and like Chuck, we bag everything and handle trash on shore....

Some say that bottles are fine to toss....
I usually don't have much in the way of glass on-board, so don't have a need to toss them and any bottle stays on-board with the plastics....

Same goes for cans....we crush 'em / compact 'em, etc....but don't toss 'em...
(okay I admit I've torn an alum Coke can into a few bits and tossed it over a couple times in my life, usually at night on a long passage...but I don't do that anymore..)

And, while some think it's fine to toss paper....some paper might be okay, but most paper is NOT good to toss overboard....and all of our paper gets bagged and handled on shore, just like plastics...
Paper falls into the grey area for some....as most "paper" is more than just paper....it is "coated", painted, plasticized, etc., and as such I do not toss paper over either.




4) If your arrival port is in a developed country, they will have some sort of waste management system / recycling system....so why toss bottles and cans, when they can be recycled???

Now, if you're arriving in a 3rd world country (like many of the popular cruising destinations), it is likely that your trash will just contribute to that nation's blight....and many sailors think tossing trash overboard is helping some 3rd world nation....but, in my opinion, these sailors are just wrong....
(maybe a can or two dropped into the big ocean, well offshore, won't harm the planet...and maybe the remote island or 3rd world nation, will just toss your trash into a heap with everyone else's....BUT...
But, I err on the side of doing the best I can....and hoping others do as well!!)



Do, as Chuck, and I, and others do....
Keep our oceans clean!!!



Fair winds...

John
s/v Annie Laurie

[Vasco]

From all the bottles in the ocean. Keep them coming. My wife's hobby.

[boatman61]

Must confess.. I've yet to see floating chops..

[goat]

Originally Posted by IdoraKeeper

I rigorously follow the written waste disposal plan aboard my boat. That plan states "all trash will be bagged and removed upon reaching land and will be transported to the home of Udo Nettner (the PO now deceased)." I trust that Udo doesn't mind as I have never received a complaint.

Good one

[BandB]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Must confess.. I've yet to see floating chops..

How about floating chaps?

Neither steak bones nor chop bones float to my knowledge. Just they don't grind in the disposal which distinguishes them from other food scraps.

[monte]

Jen says you don't know what happens to the bottles on the way down and what if a whale eats it on the way? Looks like we are saving our bottles and cans for the trash/recycle on land :

[hpeer]

Bottom trawling or dragging is not traditional to the best of my knowledge but was developed in the 1970's or so.

It has been devastating on fisheries.

Even long lining, as practiced today is a 20th century innovation, I believe.

IMHO all fishing should be regulated to hand lining or fishing pole, no power winders. Maybe the odd weir.

[Ex-Calif]

Interesting that a large experienced forum full of sailors and with some influence can't come to a "general" agreement on how to handle waste.

I was in a Marina in Malaysia and was thinking about diving on the boat and giving the bottom a rub. There are no holding tank rules around here and at about 7 am I heard the pump going on the boat next to me.

A few seconds later a "Baby Ruth" floated by. I decided to forego the dive.

They were a European couple and while within the "law" they were certainly two of the stupidest most inconsiderate people I had ever seen. There were full shower and toilet facilities like 100m away...

I know what I do with trash and it's in line with boatman's post 5 and Thinwater's post 10.

In-harbor sailing (pretty much all my sailing) we bag everything - including cans and bottles. At sea there is a little latitude because of the dispersal effect.

I don't stress about where Malaysia or Indonesia puts the trash after I bring it ashore. It's not a boating issue it's an environmental issue and having lived in Asia for 30 years I can tell you it's not my place to change their culture or laws - I would drive myself crazy doing that.

Paper - Paper packaging is almost like plastic to me. The "paper" is impregnated so that it is durable, moisture "proof" and lasts a long time.

Bottles - Hold em over the side an bang 'em with a dive knife. Too many bottles invert, capture a bubble and float forever until they land on the beach in Bali...

[Mike OReilly]

We currently cruise in restricted water (Great Lakes), so nothing except organics goes overboard. Offshore I would never consider tossing plastic, and while glass seems OK, it's not something I want on my boat anyway. Tossing tin or aluminum cans seems reasonable, but in an anaerobic environment, how quickly will it oxidize? Oxygen concentrations diminish in deep water. Will a can rust quickly if it sinks deeply? I honestly don't know. Perhaps one of you do. I do know this is why deep water wrecks are often the best preserved.

I get the valid question about where does all the land crap go. In too many places there are inadequate landfill and recycling services. Clearly in an undeveloped country, garbage is simply piled up or off-loaded to the environment somewhere. But I would guess that the vast majority of us on CF are short-term coastal cruisers, sailing around in developed countries. In these cases, there really is no excuse NOT to carry your inorganic garbage back to a proper disposal site. Obviously the boat has space for the cans and jars since we carried it out there to begin with.

Crush it, bag it, and deal with it responsibly. Seems only reasonable.

[dohenyboy]

In Marsh Harbour a year ago, at the marina, slip next to us had to buy a new outboard. Dealer brought it over. All the plastic bags, tags, etc in the packaging thrown straight into the bay.


Sent from an undisclosed location on the high seas or from the lounge chair by the pool, you decide.