The Ribbon Jumping Spider

Welcome to my second newsletter! This message goes to my first 16 subscribers with a big Thank you for signing up. I will try hard not to disappoint you! (by the way if you did not get last week’s The Albatross email, please check your Spam folder!).

I welcome your feedback as I embark on my journey to learn about the environment as well as online publishing.

Razvan

The Ribbon Jumping Spider

For every newsletter I will find an animal, plant or famous person that inspired or intrigued me. It is a recognition, a moment of reflection and gratitude to all living creatures.

Last week I came across a small, black spider in my home. Clearly not as majestic as the Albatross I featured in my first newsletter last week! However, this little animal intrigued me so I quickly pulled my PictureInsect app to identify it.

It was the Ribbon Jumping Spider, or Metacyrba taeniola, from the family Salticidae. I was surprised to learn that it is in fact “biting/stinging” and venomous. The warning shown was pretty clear: the ribbon jumping spider “may bite humans actively. Please stay away from it.” Apparently it can cause toxic reactions with a wide range of severity. Thankfully not “fatal to humans” !

Native to North America, this little fellow has two large eyes in the middle and six additional eyes positioned in such a way to give it 360-vision. They come in black, or dark brown and are usually small: adults reach 0.2 - 0.3 inches in length. So watch out folks. If you come across a ribbon jumping spider, probably best to leave him alone.

Mindset

“It does not matter how slowly you go, as long as you do not stop” - Confucius

It’s been a week where I have added little new material to www.OneBeautifulPlanet.org, and have only been able to do two small litter cleanups. Yet I did not stop working on it, as every little step adds up.

In the Works

Here are some of the things I have been working on:

Completed a small course on Udemy.com on the fundamentals of plastics and polymers and wrote this introductory piece Plastic 101.
Started learning about recycling plastics and I am planning to have a new article on Recycling Plastics 101 ready by next week. I am learning lots of new terms related to the plastics and recycling industry, so I am also working on a Lexicon II, similar to my first Lexicon with terms in environmental science. Similar to my deep dive and summary I wrote on the work of The Ocean Cleanup, I am using a lot of audio material from relevant podcasts during my driving time.
On the Action front, I was able to carry out two litter cleanups. One of them was probably my largest ever by volume, as I removed four large abandoned pet crates from a nearby nature trail. People apparently raised some animal(s) and then decided to dump the crates in the woods… not nice. See picture below. And yes, that is all poison ivy near it, so I had to be extra careful!
In addition to logging my hours and litter cleanups in the apps I reviewed last month (Clean Planet Project, Pirika and CSFN), I am now also providing them to Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful so they can count them as part of their volunteer hours.

If you think what I am doing is impressive, wait till you learn about Dan Taylor, from Hanover, Maryland. Dan has been going out with his pickup truck in the Patapsco Creek area just south of Baltimore for years and posts his cleanups on his YouTube channel. He has accumulated hundreds of videos, and so far has collected thousands of pounds of plastic, metal, and litter, and more than 900 tires from the woods and nearby roadside ares. That is true and selfless dedication to community service, and what one (sometimes with another person or two) individual can do. Below are just a few of his pics. I am surprised how Dan has not made on the news yet - like Eddie Olschansky who has been cleaning up the Cuyahoga river in Cleveland, Ohio by himself in his kayak, and was recently featured on several TV news stories.

Housekeeping

The new logo and brand guide are progressing, and I expect to have it ready by next week.

If you found this helpful, please share with your friends, contacts and anyone you know who may benefit from following my journey. Let’s gain some knowledge, and take action toward a cleaner, healthier world.

Thank you.

Razvan

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