‘Seas are becoming landfills’: the Senegalese surfer saving a beach – and a way of life – from plastic – the Guardian
It took a wave of plastic-strewn water crashing over Babacar Thiaw as he paddled out to sea for him to decide to act.
By the time his surfboard had carried him back to Virage beach on the north shore of Senegal’s capital, Dakar, Thiaw had a plan that would make use of the surfing community he had built there…
Why Recycling Isn’t the Answer to the Plastic Pollution Problem – Scientific American
For many years, the transition to a circular plastic economy has been understood to require a combination of efforts… ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’. The principles are based on the top three levels of the waste hierarchy, whereby reducing is better than reusing, which is, in turn, more favourable than recycling. In practice, however…
Study finds widespread occurrence of microplastic in Monterey Bay – Santa Cruz Sentinel
In a study published in early November, UC Santa Cruz researchers examined how much microplastic is present in the Monterey Bay and some of its inhabitants, and found that the tiny pieces of plastic pollution are not only prevalent in the water, but also in the fish and seabirds they studied…
NGO retracts ‘waste colonialism’ report blaming Asian countries for plastic pollution – the Guardian
Ocean Conservancy apologises for ‘false narrative’ of 2015 study that put blame for bulk of world’s plastic waste on five Asian states.
The Reality of Recycling Plastic
Industry makes 380 million tons of plastic every year and none of it is truly recyclable.
Greenpeace has just released a report in October calling out the plastic industry for greenwashing the status of plastic recycling by continuing to employ the familiar “chasing arrows” recycling symbol on their products, when the truth is that recycling plastic has been a near-complete failure…
‘Plastics Detective’ Imogen Napper traces pollution to the source – National Geographic
As a marine scientist and researcher and National Geographic Explorer, Imogen Napper thinks a lot about plastic….(She) has spent years sweeping the world for traces of plastic where it doesn’t belong, and finding creative solutions to the problem of plastic pollution…
Beach “Sticky Zones” Act as Trash Magnets – Futurity
Citizen scientists recorded trash on Pacific Northwest beaches, from southern Oregon to Anacortes, Washington, to contribute to the growing study of marine trash.
Nurdles: the worst toxic waste you’ve probably never heard of – the Guardian
Billions of these tiny plastic pellets are floating in the ocean, causing as much damage as oil spills, yet they are still not classified as hazardous
Plastic in the Depths: how pollution took over our oceans – The Guardian
More than 8m tonnes pour into the seas every year…Plastic even contaminates ocean air, where particles are kicked up by spray and then blown about the planet by the wind. In many places on Earth, it is literally raining – and snowing – plastic.