[OANNES Foro] Plastic Soup: An Atlas of Ocean Pollution

Jue Mayo 2 09:31:35 PDT 2019

'Plastic Soup:' Photos and Q&A with author of new book documenting plastic
pollution and solutions

by  <https://news.mongabay.com/by/mike-gaworecki/> Mike Gaworecki 

3 April 2019 

https://news.mongabay.com/2019/04/plastic-soup-photos-and-qa-with-author-of-
new-book-documenting-plastic-pollution-and-solutions/

Earth's oceans are drowning in plastic. Humans created
<https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/jan/19/more-plastic-than-fish-in-
the-sea-by-2050-warns-ellen-macarthur> 311 million metric tons of the stuff
in 2014, and it is expected that we'll be making four times as much by 2050
- yet only about 5 percent of plastic is currently recycled. It's been
estimated that
<https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/assets/downloads/EllenMacArthurFou
ndation_TheNewPlasticsEconomy_Pages.pdf> 8 million metric tons of the
plastic that goes to waste is dumped into our oceans every year - which is
equivalent to a full garbage truck of plastic being dumped into the oceans
every minute.

In a series of stunning photos and informative graphics, new book
<http://s.bl-1.com/h/czXZoH0S?url=http://www.islandpress.org/book/plastic-so
up> Plastic Soup: An Atlas of Ocean Pollution documents the plastic
pollution crisis engulfing Earth's seas, the impacts of that pollution on
wildlife and people, and initiatives that have been created to tackle the
problem.

https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/04/03122621/Abbin
g-r02-06.jpg

Plastic Soup: An Atlas of Ocean Pollution is out April 4 via Island Press.
Image courtesy of Island Press.

Microplastics have been found in the guts of
<https://news.mongabay.com/2019/02/plastics-found-in-dolphins-seals-and-whal
es-in-uk-waters/> marine mammals,
<https://news.mongabay.com/2018/12/tiny-bits-of-ocean-plastic-threaten-the-s
urvival-of-sea-turtle-hatchlings/> sea turtle hatchlings, and
<https://news.mongabay.com/2018/11/research-finds-humans-across-the-globe-ha
ve-microplastics-in-their-stool/> humans around the globe, and plastic water
bottles and snack-food packaging have even been
<https://news.mongabay.com/2018/06/the-plastic-crisis-sinks-to-a-new-low-in-
the-deep-sea/> found in the deepest parts of the oceans, at depths of nearly
11,000 meters or 36,100 feet.

Plastic Soup looks at a variety of sources of plastic pollution and the harm
it causes, from the microplastics in cosmetics that so frequently leak into
fragile ecosystems to the impacts of balloon releases on wildlife. But the
book is also intended as a message of hope, highlighting a number of
projects that have been created and actions people can take to help reduce
plastic waste.

The book, set to be published tomorrow by Island Press, was written by
Michiel Roscam Abbing, a political scientist who reports on the latest
scientific research around plastics for the
<http://www.plasticsoupfoundation.org/> Plastic Soup Foundation. Mongabay
spoke with Abbing via email to get a sneak peek at what's in the book,
including a handful of its most compelling images and graphics.

Mongabay: How did you come up with the idea for Plastic Soup?

Michiel Roscam Abbing: Since 2011 I have worked for the Plastic Soup
Foundation, a Dutch NGO dedicated to fighting plastic pollution. We cover
all kinds of plastic soup news items on
<http://www.plasticsoupfoundation.org/> plasticsoupfoundation.org. We
started to think about a book on the topic a few years ago. With the
assistance of the Dutch publishing house LIAS we developed the idea of an
atlas to visually show that plastic soup is a global problem manifesting
itself in many different ways. Some of the questions we set out to answer
include: What are the causes and sources of plastic soup? And what are the
solutions to get plastic soup off the map?

Were you trying to catalog the plastic pollution problem comprehensively? Or
just highlighting the problem by examining some of the chief sources of
plastic pollution and their impact?

The goal of Plastic Soup is to show that the plastic soup is not only about
waste that can be cleaned up. There are many sources and effects of plastic
soup - and also many possible solutions. I tried indeed to approach the
issue in a comprehensive way, easy for any reader to understand.

What are some of the more egregious sources and/or impacts of plastic
pollution that you discovered in the course of writing the book?

One is that the long-term impact of microplastics in soil can have all kinds
of negative effects on terrestrial ecosystems with even greater impact than
at sea. Another is that we breathe microplastics continuously without
understanding if there might be negative consequences for our health in the
long run.

Plastic Soup also documents some efforts to reduce the amount of plastic
waste we create and dump into the environment. What were some of the more
inspiring projects you found?

One of the inspiring new techniques that stands out to me is natural
branding, a technique in which lasers are used to mark vegetables and fruit
in lieu of plastic stickers. Plastic-free supermarkets are also popping up
here and there and are showing the big chains the way to follow. Other
people show us how to live with zero waste.

What are some of the top recommendations made in the book for how people can
reduce their use of plastics? Is there anything folks can do to help clean
up existing plastic pollution?

Try to live without plastic for a while, as promoted by Plastic Free July,
an Australian initiative that developed a useful toolbox to do so. Also try,
for example, to combine your daily jogging or walk the dog with cleaning up
the street litter you encounter along the way.

https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/04/03122803/9-cop
y.2-Graphic.jpg

What can you do to counteract pollution by plastic, and what has the most
effect? 

Graphic courtesy of the Plastic Soup Foundation.

Once it's out in the world, what do you hope a book like this can
accomplish?

I hope that Plastic Soup will contribute to raising awareness about this
environmental issue and make it clear that cleaning up the mess and
preventing further pollution is everybody's responsibility - including
companies and authorities.

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