The Great Pacific Garbage Patch was discovered only some 25 years ago and is rapidly growing. By now, it is three times the size of France. It is another global disaster that we have not been able to stop.
Yup . . . he is still crying and so am I. See 'The Crying Indian in New York City'. Crying since 1970 on this classic example video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0sxwGlTLWw
Thank you for this morning letter, about making(again) and keeping our planet beautiful. And healthy! We have the tools and consciousness for today and tomorrows clean-ups.
Plastic! It’s everywhere! It’s invaded our lives & world. Maybe the worst of all mankind’s inventions. It’s sickening to see wildlife, marine life & birds that have ingested a belly full of plastic debris or become trapped by discarded plastic. One of the most touching sights was a swan having made a nest from salvaged plastic. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is an environmental nightmare. It’s encouraging to see innovators & environmentalists like Boyan Slat & the Ocean Cleanup trying to clean the ocean & Lilly of Lillys Plastic Pickup trying to stop plastic pollution in her part of the world. We need many more of these. Thanks for a great article furthering awareness.
Yes, there are great examples of cleaning up plastic waste and communities coming together to tackle this problem. We should especially focus on the source. I can understand some use of plastics where it is hard to find an alternative. But why is it allowed that toilet paper is sold in plastic? Do we need to keep it fresh? Do we have to look through it? And there are thousands of other examples. I remember the company that proudly announced the production of paper straws, but they were individually wrapped in plastic...
We’ve banned plastic bags in my state, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Plastic is pervasive from caps on cardboard containers, blister packaging, toothbrushes, etc. Even as someone who is trying to limit using plastic is is nearly impossible. Until manufacturers use alternate materials and plastic recycling is really accomplished we will be battling this problem forever.
I like building on an issue. Makes sense - it is momentum for change. What I am often interested in regarding plastics is in harnessing the waste for new construction products. One issue there is that recycled plastic is often at the end of its life cycle and cannot be recycled again. I’m going to do a little more reading on this today. Thanks for the nudge!
I recall the message, from the '50s I believe, "better living through chemistry, but seems we are living with some, probably many, of its unintended consequences. Distancing ourselves from nature has been harmful to so much of life on the earth...very sad.
I wish I would still have my chemistry books from high school; I clearly remember having to learn all the advantages of plastic, and there was not a word about the environment
The size of the patch shocked me. Boyan Slat sure has taken on an enormous project.
I was always proud of my Grandfather who was an MIT trained chemist who helped develop the first plastics and synthetic rubber. He meant well, anyway.
We’ve got to innovate our way out of this mess. I love reading Peter Diamandis’ Futureloop, Abundance 360, and Singularity University, which all present insights into the many wonderful developments occurring. I also adore the material science advancements of Neri Oxman’s team at MIT. With the many innovations developing, along with decentralized finance, it is going to be an exciting next decade. I’m hopeful much will improve, if only we can stabilize the changing climate.
Hi Victoria, I share your optimism on technology, but we need two things: technology and leadership; the lack of daring visionary leadership got us into this mess. Having said that, I am a bit more optimistic in the past few months that governments will take more action. What I hope will also change is that people will realize that it is not an impossible task to stop climate change; we can do it, and it is cheaper to take action now than to wait a day longer. The solution to the plastic problem lies first and foremost on land; we have to prevent more plastic from entering the oceans, not that I am against cleaning up, but if your bathtub is overflowing, you first close the tap and then start cleaning up; again it is governance first, and then we need amazing technology to clean up the ocean, but it will always be only a small part. 70 percent of all plastics sink to the bottom of the ocean, and the biggest plastic problem is the microplastics that we can't catch. I admire any grand initiative, but Slat's work is only a small part of solving the plastic pollution problem.
Good morning Alexander 🌻
Yup . . . he is still crying and so am I. See 'The Crying Indian in New York City'. Crying since 1970 on this classic example video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0sxwGlTLWw
Thank you for this morning letter, about making(again) and keeping our planet beautiful. And healthy! We have the tools and consciousness for today and tomorrows clean-ups.
Plastic! It’s everywhere! It’s invaded our lives & world. Maybe the worst of all mankind’s inventions. It’s sickening to see wildlife, marine life & birds that have ingested a belly full of plastic debris or become trapped by discarded plastic. One of the most touching sights was a swan having made a nest from salvaged plastic. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is an environmental nightmare. It’s encouraging to see innovators & environmentalists like Boyan Slat & the Ocean Cleanup trying to clean the ocean & Lilly of Lillys Plastic Pickup trying to stop plastic pollution in her part of the world. We need many more of these. Thanks for a great article furthering awareness.
Yes, there are great examples of cleaning up plastic waste and communities coming together to tackle this problem. We should especially focus on the source. I can understand some use of plastics where it is hard to find an alternative. But why is it allowed that toilet paper is sold in plastic? Do we need to keep it fresh? Do we have to look through it? And there are thousands of other examples. I remember the company that proudly announced the production of paper straws, but they were individually wrapped in plastic...
Excellent examples, puzzles me too!
We’ve banned plastic bags in my state, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Plastic is pervasive from caps on cardboard containers, blister packaging, toothbrushes, etc. Even as someone who is trying to limit using plastic is is nearly impossible. Until manufacturers use alternate materials and plastic recycling is really accomplished we will be battling this problem forever.
I like building on an issue. Makes sense - it is momentum for change. What I am often interested in regarding plastics is in harnessing the waste for new construction products. One issue there is that recycled plastic is often at the end of its life cycle and cannot be recycled again. I’m going to do a little more reading on this today. Thanks for the nudge!
The recycling rate of plastics is indeed way too low, worldwide it is less than 9 percent.
I recall the message, from the '50s I believe, "better living through chemistry, but seems we are living with some, probably many, of its unintended consequences. Distancing ourselves from nature has been harmful to so much of life on the earth...very sad.
I wish I would still have my chemistry books from high school; I clearly remember having to learn all the advantages of plastic, and there was not a word about the environment
The size of the patch shocked me. Boyan Slat sure has taken on an enormous project.
I was always proud of my Grandfather who was an MIT trained chemist who helped develop the first plastics and synthetic rubber. He meant well, anyway.
We’ve got to innovate our way out of this mess. I love reading Peter Diamandis’ Futureloop, Abundance 360, and Singularity University, which all present insights into the many wonderful developments occurring. I also adore the material science advancements of Neri Oxman’s team at MIT. With the many innovations developing, along with decentralized finance, it is going to be an exciting next decade. I’m hopeful much will improve, if only we can stabilize the changing climate.
Hi Victoria, I share your optimism on technology, but we need two things: technology and leadership; the lack of daring visionary leadership got us into this mess. Having said that, I am a bit more optimistic in the past few months that governments will take more action. What I hope will also change is that people will realize that it is not an impossible task to stop climate change; we can do it, and it is cheaper to take action now than to wait a day longer. The solution to the plastic problem lies first and foremost on land; we have to prevent more plastic from entering the oceans, not that I am against cleaning up, but if your bathtub is overflowing, you first close the tap and then start cleaning up; again it is governance first, and then we need amazing technology to clean up the ocean, but it will always be only a small part. 70 percent of all plastics sink to the bottom of the ocean, and the biggest plastic problem is the microplastics that we can't catch. I admire any grand initiative, but Slat's work is only a small part of solving the plastic pollution problem.
Dramatic examples and real dramatic change in oceans, mountains or rivers. We are responsible and have to definitely change our way and around us !