Marshall is back at work after his father's death feeling apathetic about working at GNB and completely disinterested in having sex with Lily. However, after watching a documentary about "Garbage Island" an island in the Pacific half the size of Texas that is used as a landfill, he becomes obsessed with saving the environment. Marshall forces his new views on McLarens who begin recycling much to the dismay of Wendy the waitress who must now carry the bottles to the recycling facility after work every night. He also makes a presentation to GNB which will cost the company millions of dollars and results in one of his colleagues getting fired for supporting it. Eventually Marshall realizes he is using this cause to find meaning in his life and Lily gives Marshall her blessing to quit his job at GNB to pursue his dream of practicing environmental law. Meanwhile, Barney is offended that after his laser tag date with Nora she did not go home with him and tells Robin that he refuses to pursue her. However, when Robin leads him to believe that Nora has met someone else, Barney admits he really likes her and gets her number to call for a second date. Ted volunteers to go pick up a box of Zoey's things from her old apartment as she fears running into her ex-husband, The Captain. Ted runs into him in the lobby of the building and is invited up to his study where The Captain confides in Ted about the end of his marriage, and that he knows Zoey left him for someone else. After convincing The Captain it was not another man who is to blame for his marriage ending he admits that he is the one now dating Zoey.
