Captain Charles Moore appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman earlier this week. Moore is the first person to document the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a gigantic gyre of marine litter that made up of 90% plastic waste. As Moore says, “Plastic is overtaking the natural world.”
Beth from Fake Plastic Fish has a great write-up of the segments, with some ideas about working towards a solution:
1) Commit to reduce our own plastic consumption as much as possible.
2) Talk to our family and friends about the problem and set an example that others can follow.
3) Support measures in our communities to ban plastic bags and other single-use packaging.
4) Support Extended Producer Responsibility legislation which would require manufacturers to provide for the entire life cycle of their products and remove the burden from communities and local governments. EPR laws in Europe have proven that when companies have to figure out how to recycle their stuff, they end up using fewer, less toxic materials in the first place.
This issue can seem depressing and overwhelming, but there are things we can do. What other steps can we take? We want to hear from you!
