Dive Into Your Imagination

Can you think of creative ways to recycle? Fishing for Energy is a creative program that Christine McCoy is a part of that recycles old fishing gear so it doesn’t pollute the ocean! Check out her awesome coat made from recycled fishing gear!

What is the impact of litter in the ocean, particularly of derelict fishing gear?
Marine debris in general threatens important living marine resources and their habitat, as well as hinders navigational safety. Derelict fishing gear has been known to continue to “fish” commercially-valuable species targeted by fishermen and can snag on active fishing gear, creating high costs to fishermen in both time and money. Derelict gear also catches non-target species, including species that may be listed as endangered or threatened. Marine mammals and sea turtles can become entangled and drown, or their health may be impacted as they are wrapped in pieces of line or net that can cause injury or prevent them from catching prey. Marine habitats, which are smothered when derelict nets sink from the weight of their catch, are further damaged when nets on the bottom are shifted by storms.

How can problems like this be avoided?
Marine debris can be reduced through programs like Fishing for Energy and through grassroots initiatives like the Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup. Average citizens can participate by cleaning up their local beach or watershed and more importantly by not contributing to the problem in the first place. All waste should go into a trashcan and then disposed of properly. I help by participating in local clean-ups and working through Covanta to sponsor programs and initiatives to promote litter prevention and clean-up events

What is fishing for Energy? How does it work?
Fishing for Energy is a collaborative partnership of Covanta Energy Corporation, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Schnitzer Steel Industries, Inc. with the stated goal of providing a no-cost solution to fishermen to dispose of old, derelict or unusable fishing gear and reducing the amount of derelict fishing gear in and around coastal waterways.

Launched in 2008, the partnership continues to work closely with state and local agencies, community groups and fishermen, and local ports to install bins at convenient and strategic locations where gear can easily be disposed. When these bins fill up, the gear is collected and transported to a nearby Schnitzer Steel facility where the metal (ie. crab pots or rigging) is diverted for recycling, and rope or nets are sheared for easier handling during the disposal process. The material is then brought to the nearest Covanta Energy-from-Waste (EfW) facility where the gear is converted into clean, renewable energy that is distributed to the local electrical grid.

What makes this program important?
Programs like this are important for the fishing community, which is burdened with disposing of gear that is outdated, or can no longer be used due to new federal regulations that require the use of gear that will protect marine species and habitats. We provide this service free of charge to encourage them to dispose of their old gear in a sustainable manor and to encourage them to bring in abandoned gear they encounter in the ocean. While this program will not solve the marine debris issue altogether it can make a significant impact in reducing the overall amount of gear that may otherwise end up in the marine environment.

Scientists need to use creativity and imagination to help them explain why environmental science is important to the average person because many people fail to see their individual actions, such as littering, can snowball into larger problems like the Pacific Vortex and endangerment of marine life. By using innovative partnerships like Fishing for Energy, we can convince individuals to change their behavior.

What made you first realize that human litter is a problem? What have you witnessed and experienced to explain why litter in the ocean is such a prominent issue?
My interest in the environment began at a young age when I became a girl scout. As a result, camping and hiking became favored activities and it wasn’t long before I was aghast at the amount of litter I encountered hiking through the woods. My disdain for litter carried-over to my time as a Peace Corps volunteer when I was perplexed to learn that my Caribbean friends littered as a rule, not an exception.

Imagine my surprise when my students and friends insisted that I litter because “the sea will come and take it away”. I knew then that I had an uphill battle to educate my friends about the negative impacts of litter and mismanagement of solid waste – particularly in sensitive environments like the Caribbean. That’s when I knew I would dedicate my career to promoting sustainable integrated solid waste management practices that would improve the environment.

Much of how we treat our trash is a result of how we are socialized and educated. What I learned from my friends in the Caribbean is that they littered due to their perceptions of trash and how it should be managed. When I asked one of my friends why they littered I was told it was because she would be embarrassed to be seen with trash in her hand. This is obviously a reflection of their perceptions of litter rather than how litter impacts the environment. In order to change this behavior, we have to understand the origins of the program in terms of social interaction and structures rather than confronting it solely as an environmental problem.

What do you think is important to tell people who don’t realize what impact their trash has on the environment?
How we manage waste can have a significant impact on our environment and climate change. When we put waste in landfills it degrades and generates methane gases, which are extremely potent greenhouse gasses – more than 20 times more detrimental than carbon dioxide emissions. Converting the waste that remains after recycling is more sustainable than dumping it in a landfill and helps increase our energy independence.

How much we waste is a reflection of how we value our natural resources. Virgin material extraction is a huge contributor to global warming and contributes to habitat destruction. By reducing the amount of virgin materials we use to produce new goods (ie. source reduction), and reusing and recycling as much as we possibly can and recovering energy from what remains, we can save an enormous amount of energy and reduce the negative impacts associated with consumption and waste generation.

Covanta isn’t just in charge of this program, though. They are in charge of other great waste-reducing programs. Can you tell us more about Covanta?
Covanta Energy is an internationally recognized owner and operator of large-scale Energy-from-Waste and renewable energy projects and a recipient of the Energy Innovator Award from the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Globally, Covanta’s 38 Energy-from-Waste facilities provide communities with an environmentally sound solution to their solid waste disposal needs by using that municipal solid waste to generate clean, renewable energy. Annually, Covanta's modern Energy-from-Waste facilities safely and securely convert more than 16 million tons of waste into more than 8 million megawatt hours of clean renewable electricity and create 10 billion pounds of steam that are sold to a variety of industries.

What is your job there?
I am tasked with developing corporate sustainability programs through collaborative partnerships such as Fishing for Energy. I work with national nonprofit organizations like the National Fish and Wildlife Federation, the Ocean Conservancy, and the Nature Conservancy to develop programs that will address various waste streams that are difficult to manage, like fishing gear, or mercury containing products like thermostats and thermometers.

I am also involved in developing and promoting policies to support source reduction, reuse, and recycling. For example, Covanta is a member of the Product Stewardship Institute, which is the premiere national organization dedicated to working with product manufacturers to reduce and/or eliminate the amount of toxic constituents in their products.

So both you and Covanta are making our planet a cleaner, healthier place! Finally, please tell us about why you love the ocean, and your favorite ocean animal!
One of the reasons I love the ocean is swimming. When I swim I feel free and relaxed. There’s nothing better than floating in salt water and gazing at the clouds overhead.

My favorite ocean animal has to be sea turtles. They are slow on land, but amazingly fast and elegant in water. I love snorkeling and when I spot a sea turtle the sight is nothing short of amazing!

Biography:
Christine McCoy is the Manager of External Affairs for Covanta Energy, working to engage national non-profit organizations in a dialogue about the benefits of Energy-from-Waste. Ms. McCoy manages Covanta’s Fishing for Energy Partnership in conjunction with the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Before joining Covanta Energy, Ms. McCoy was the Solid Waste Planner for the City of Alexandria. Ms. McCoy has also worked for the National Recycling Coalition, the American Forest & Paper Association, and the Rural Community Assistance Partnership. Christine was a Peace Corps volunteer in the Commonwealth of Dominica in the West Indies and she wrote her masters thesis on “Sustainable Solid Waste Management on Small Islands of the Caribbean”. Ms. McCoy has a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Campaign and a M.A. in Geography from Louisiana State University.

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