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On the deck of the USS Ross RELATED VIDEO CNN's Rick Lockridge reports on the greening of the Navy aboard the USS Ross Windows Media 28K 80K Environmentally friendly practices Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K

June 4, 1999
Web posted at: 8:44 a.m. EDT (1244 GMT)

ABOARD THE USS ROSS, Adriatic Sea (CNN) -- The Navy of the '90s is not just leaner and meaner, but undeniably greener.

While clean water laws contain loopholes for military ships, the U.S. Navy is trying to adhere to them. The service's ultimate goal is to build what it calls "environmentally sound ships" for the next century and beyond.

Since January 1 of this year, international law forbids all vessels except submarines from dumping plastics into the sea. Human wastes may only be discharged in certain offshore zones, and food, paper and other biodegradeable wastes must be shredded and turned into a fine slurry before they can be dumped overboard.

Metal and glass must be packaged so as to sink to the bottom.

To meet its goal of "zero emission" ships, the Navy has had to install some clever technology, like a contraption that removes oil from bilgewater and a system that shreds, cooks and compresses plastic.

A sailor compresses plastic into a thin, pizza-like disk

The end result is a disk that can be as flat as a pancake.

Aboard the USS Ross, anything plastic is fair game for what the sailors call the "hockey puck machine." Recently they displayed a computer that fell out of favor with ship technicians. After a trip to the compressor, it was turned into a beige-and-green cyberpizza.

"I definitely know that in addition to the general policies of the Navy, there are individuals on board who are really dedicated to it, go beyond what the baseline rules are," says Cmdr. David Thomas, captain of the USS Ross.

In the old days of the Navy, anything not wanted was just thrown overboard but

Toxic liquids are stored in a vault

not anymore.

Toxic liquids such as oils, antifreeze, and cleaning solutions are locked in a vault and carefully tracked.

"Society in general is becoming a lot more conscious of these things and as a result the Navy is becoming more conscious of these things," says weapons officer Lt. Kate Perrault.

Navy veterans of a certain age might not recognize the new traditions of separating paper from plastic and oil from water, but they would appreciate the underlying sentiment: a fundamental respect for the sea.

Correspondent Rick Lockridge contributed to this report.

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