Recycling keeps line away from turtles and fish

Plastic fishing line may be useful for catching fish, but left in the water it can be deadly to turtles and other sea life. To encourage fishermen to recycle broken fishing line, 4-H’ers along Georgia’s coastline have installed used fishing line recycling collection bins.

Volunteers in action

Along with volunteers from the Georgia Sea Turtle Center and Clean Coast of Savannah, 4-H’ers set up 60 monofilament line recycling stations at piers and boat ramps in Camden, Glynn, McIntosh and Liberty counties.

Georgia 4-H began participating in the program in March 2008 when Camden County Cooperative Extension agent Amber Defore was searching the Internet for new programs to offer. She discovered that Florida 4-H’ers were collecting and recycling fishing line. A few more clicks, and she found information on a similar program at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center on Jekyll Island.

“Doug Haymans of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources was listed as the contact and that’s how it all started for me,” she said. “Then I found out about the program in Glynn County was the brainchild of Liz Brown of the UGA Marine Extension Service.”

Defore and Glynn County 4-H agent Robi Gray were recruited into the project by Brown and the other coastal county 4-H programs soon followed suit.

Harmful to sea life

“Fishing line in the water can entangle sea animals’ wings and flippers,” Defore said. “It can also keep them from moving away from predators and swimming to the surface to get oxygen.”
The animals most often affected are sea turtles, dolphins, manatees, fish, sharks, stingrays, shorebirds and even humans.

Gray said 4-H’ers in her county didn’t fully understand the magnitude of the project until they installed their first collection station.

“We installed a receptacle off the old Sidney Lanier Bridge, which many people now use as a fishing pier,” she said. “The kids looked around at the marsh and saw a lot of fishing line tangled in the bushes. It really hit home to them how important it is to have a way to collect and remove it from the area.”

Educating the public

Public awareness has made the program “spread like wildfire,” Defore said.

At events such as the fishing derby on Jekyll Island and the Department of Natural Resource beach week on St. Simons Island, 4-H’ers educated the public on the hazards of leftover fishing line to wildlife and sea life said.

“They ask the people to shape their hand like a beak, and then they put rubber bands around the beak,” Gray said. “This shows them how a bird feels when fishing line wraps around its beak and prevents it from eating. Hands-on activities like this really hit home for the kids.”

In Camden County, 92 percent of the containers are being used, Defore said.
“They have collected as little as one strand of line and as much as 40 pieces in individual stations,” she said. “The site on the St. Simons Island pier is always overloaded.”

The collection stations are most often elbow-shaped and made of PVC pipe. The production and distribution of these containers was made possible by a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration grant and the Georgia's Sport Fish Restoration Program, funded in part from fishing license fees.

“The kids seem to like checking the collection sites,” Defore said. “It gives them a sense of responsibility.”

Converted into fish habitats

Once collected, the fishing line is sent to Berkley Conservation Institute to be recycled. It is then sent to Pure Fishing where it is turned into tackle boxes, fishing habitats and new fishing line.
Plastic panels made from the recycled fishing line are given to the 4-H’ers, who transform them into boxes that serve as fish habitats.

“The panels are connected like a puzzle, roped off and sunk in fresh water ponds where they become fish habitats,” Gray said. “This effort makes a complete circle from catching fish to collecting the fishing line to creating something that makes an environment for fish to breed in.”

By Sharon Dowdy
University of Georgia

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NOBLE's Georgia Chapter Collects Hundreds of Phones and Receives HopeLine Law Enforcement Partnership Award From Verizon Wireless

/PRNewswire/ -- Verizon Wireless, a corporate leader in domestic violence awareness, presented the Georgia Chapter of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE) with a HopeLine Law Enforcement Partnership Award yesterday at NOBLE's annual conference in Virginia. The HopeLine award honors the efforts of public safety officials who are committed to reducing domestic violence, providing support to victims, raising awareness of the issue and educating communities about domestic violence.

The Georgia Chapter was recognized for its participation in a nationwide phone collection drive organized by NOBLE. Thanks to the generosity of NOBLE members, law enforcement agencies across the state of Georgia and the general public, the Georgia Chapter collected several hundred no-longer-used wireless phones.

In honor of the Georgia Chapter's efforts, Verizon Wireless will donate $2,500 to the Savannah Area Family Emergency (S.A.F.E.) Shelter. S.A.F.E. Shelter provides temporary shelter and services to abused women and their children and supports prevention education, increased public awareness and legislation designed to decrease domestic violence.

"As first responders, we witness the effects of domestic violence first-hand," said Joseph A. McMillan, national president of NOBLE. "Our partnership with Verizon Wireless and our nationwide phone collection drive enabled us to help place valuable wireless phones in victims' hands, phones they can use to contact law enforcement or domestic violence hotlines in emergency situations. NOBLE is proud to have our efforts recognized and we look forward to continuing our work with Verizon Wireless' HopeLine program."

HopeLine accepts wireless phones and accessories in any condition from any carrier for reuse and recycling at Verizon Wireless Communications Stores nationwide or via mail (postage-paid label available at www.verizonwireless.com/hopelinemailinglabel). Phones given to HopeLine that can be refurbished are sold for reuse, and those without value are disposed of in an environmentally sound way. Proceeds from the HopeLine program are used to provide wireless phones and cash grants to local shelters and non-profit organizations that focus on domestic violence prevention and awareness.

Since the HopeLine program was created in 1995, Verizon Wireless has supported the efforts of law enforcement and government agencies in communities nationwide. Verizon Wireless' support includes:

-- Donating wireless phones and service, high-speed Mobile Broadband
Internet service and cash grants to prosecutors, detectives and other
personnel in local government domestic violence units
-- Sponsoring phone collection drives in cooperation with local sheriff
and police departments
-- Partnering with several states' Attorneys General offices to create
campaigns around elder abuse, teen dating and other domestic violence
issues

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Founders Club Proudly Supports the St. Joseph's/Candler Mammography Fund

/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Founders Club will donate $5 from the sale of its new Believe golf clubs to the Mammography Fund at St. Joseph's/Candler.

"The Mammography Fund is a great service to the community. Early detection is crucial in the fight against cancer," Jeff Andrews, CEO of Founders Club, said.

The Believe set retails for $399 and will be sold at Edwin Watts Golf stores and specialty golf retail stores across the United States.

"St. Joseph's/Candler is very proud to be selected as the national recipient for this generous donation," said Paul P. Hinchey, president & CEO of St. Joseph's/Candler. "As one of only 10 NCI-selected National Community Cancer Center Programs (NCCCP) pilot sites in the country, our Nancy N. and J.C. Lewis Cancer & Research Pavilion works hard to erase cultural, economic and other access barriers to oncology services. The funds generated from the sale of these golf clubs will go a long way in helping us fulfill that mission," Hinchey adds.

The Mammography Fund covers the cost of mammograms for women with little or no insurance. They are identified through SJ/C programs, the Mary Telfair Women's Hospital's network of services or the Nancy N. and J.C. Lewis Cancer & Research Pavilion.

From 2007 to 2008 the number of patients who used the fund increased 208 percent.

With the economy souring and more people losing insurance, the fund is becoming even more important.

Founder's Club, headquartered in Savannah, is already selling the clubs in Canada and donating to the Canadian Cancer Society. The Believe set comes with a bag and a full compliment of 11 clubs. This easy-to-hit set is designed to offer the latest game improvement technology to help improve your game and improve your golf experience.

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Celebrity Cook Paula Deen and Smithfield Foods Helping Hungry Homes(TM) Come to Aid of Savannah Food Bank for Second Time This Year

/PRNewswire/ -- With the volatility of the country's economy and the growing population of the unemployed, more people than ever are turning to food banks to help feed their families. For the second time in less than a year, Smithfield Foods and celebrity cook Paula Deen came to the assistance of America's Second Harvest in Deen's hometown of Savannah with a delivery of 25,000 pounds of meat as part of their Helping Hungry Homes(TM) initiative. The donation equates to 100,000 servings of much-needed protein for hungry families.

"Americans today are facing the greatest challenges with this recession," said Deen. "I am grateful that my partners, Smithfield Foods, share my passion to help those who are struggling to feed their families. We want to do what we can to make things better for those who are going through hard times."

Accompanied by her husband Michael Groover and sons Bobby and Jamie, Deen continued to remark, "We are all aware that this will be a difficult holiday season for many families. It is our obligation to do whatever we can to help families with the basics like getting food on the table."

When added to a similar donation Smithfield Foods made in January of this year, Helping Hungry Homes(TM) has now donated nearly 70,000 pounds of meat to the America's Second Harvest of Coastal Georgia. "Our communities have been hard hit with the downturn of the economy," said Mary Crouch, executive director of America's Second Harvest of Coastal Georgia. "With that said, this makes the holidays even tougher especially when you are having trouble feeding your family. The delivery of this generous donation could not have come at a better time. We are so grateful for the efforts of Smithfield Foods and our Savannah neighbor Paula Deen for coming through with this much needed delivery of meat."

Smithfield Foods' Helping Hungry Homes(TM) initiative was established to help ensure that American families in need do not go hungry. Smithfield Foods and its independent operating companies have a long history of stocking food banks, supporting after-school nutrition programs and providing food relief in the wake of natural disasters. Since January, Smithfield Foods and Paula Deen distributed over 400,000 pounds of meat products to cities throughout the United States with an estimated retail value of over $1.2 million.

"During tight economic times, those who have the least oftentimes suffer more," said C. Larry Pope, President and Chief Executive Officer of Smithfield Foods. "We welcome this opportunity to renew our commitment to feeding families with this Helping Hungry Homes donation."

Mary Crouch agreed and replied, "Meat donations are greatly needed for their nutritional value but are often the hardest to come by, making this donation all the more critical for our community. This donation is the holiday spirit we all need."

America's Second Harvest is the nation's largest hunger-relief organization with 205 food bank members nationwide.

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