On October 3, 2018, WVU’s Charleston branch of Osha’s Lifelong Learning Institutes (OLLI) invited Lee Ann Grogg of the City’s Stormwater Department and Tomi Bergstrom with the WV DEP to presented a lecture on the History of Plastics.  We learned a lot in our combined research efforts, including what drove plastic to be invented, its importance in WWII, the amazing advances it provided in manufacturing & medicine and how its single-use form is killing our global environment.

In 1868 John Wesley Hyatt answered a call to create an alternative substance to ivory for billiard balls.  For a $10,000 prize, Hyatt discovered celluloid, a partially synthetic plastic.

When World War II began, the use of plastic for advantages in war became evident and plastic production and further research reached an all time high.

Plastic production went from from 2.3 million tons in 1950, to 162 million tons in 1993.  By 2015 plastic production had grown to 448 million tons produced per year, much of which was (and still is) single-use plastic.

National Geographic’s June edition titled Planet or Plastic? has an in depth chronology of the journey of plastic and its present impact in our world.  You can read it by following this link:   https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2018/06/plastic-planet-waste-pollution-trash-crisis/?user.testname=none 

Snowmen frolic and educate!

The Charleston Stormwater/Engineering Department wants your opinion of which snowman is the chilliest stormwater representative.  They are having fun in the snow. Clean stormwater is very important to their happy existence. They want to educate people on what they think is the best way to keep their snow free of pollution!

LET’S INTRODUCE OUR SNOWMEN

Contractor Jake

Here’s Jake.  He’s having a little fun on the job while he waits to install his silt fence – the ground is frozen!  Jake knows jobsite runoff has to be free of dirt, so no excavating until the fence is buried at least 6” deep.  Watch out for his snowball! ‘When the snowboss is away, the snowmen will play!’

Snowman Flynt

Flynt’s green hat matches his green thumb. He uses rain barrels to water his plants & keep them healthy. Here’s why… 1) Plants love rain water, it doesn’t have chemicals like tap water. 2) In a 1″ rain, Flynt captures 55 gallons of H20 in 8 minutes. 3) Rain water is FREE water! Flynt is capturing stormwater & reducing runoff into sewers. He is River Proud!

Professor Snow

The Professor takes his work very serious.  He teaches Green Infrastructure & Stormwater Management at the college level.  But don’t refer to him as a snowman, he prefers to be called a ‘stormwater sculpture.’  He knows  that snow is stormwater and snow melt pollutes just like rain.  Therefore it makes sense, he really is a stormwater sculpture!

Snowman Link

Meet Link, he’s never without his I-Pad! He’s quite the techie, especially for a snowman.  He uses Charleston Stormwater’s Web & Facebook pages to sign up for programs, get tips on green infrastructure & find workshops.  Link just left a rain barrel workshop, he’s taking his rain barrel home to store until spring & leaving an online review!

Twinkle Toes

Twinkle Toes is an entertainer with a large resume for a snowman. Here he is performing one of his favorite dances –  ‘Singing in the Snow’!  You may recognize Twinkle from movies like, ‘Frosty the Snowman’, ‘Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer’ & his soon to be released documentary; ’Black Snow, A City’s Dirty Secret’.

Santiago!

Santiago is the old man of the river & a smooth caster.  He fishes the Kanawha for Bass & Walleye and the Elk for his beloved Trout.  Here he is fly fishing the headwaters of the Elk, hoping for the 20” Rainbow that got away!  He believes our rivers are the soul of our existence.