Edit Path: Guide to the Plastic Crisis
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The guide will help readers understand the global plastic crisis from multiple angles, including the impact of plastic on human health, wildlife and the environment, the upstream forces in the lifecycle of plastics, the complex reality of recycling plastic, the unique threat posed by tiny plastic particles called nanoplastics, and how two similar cities have handled the plastic issue in different ways.
Guide editor
Reynard Loki
Associate editor
Source
Earth Food Life Project
Articles
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Title
The Complex and Frustrating Reality of Recycling Plastic
Commentary
Many now consider ocean plastic pollution an existential threat on par with climate change, but it seems like it should be an easy one to fix. Plastic is recyclable, after all, so why can’t we just recycle it? It turns out it’s not as simple as it sounds.
Title
Plastics Impact on Human Health
Commentary
It is clear that plastic is choking the planetary environment. What is less clear is the impact of plastic on human bodies.
Title
600 Million Metric Tons of Plastic May Fill Oceans by 2036 If We Don’t Act Now
Commentary
As the private transportation sector shifts focus to batteries, biofuels, and green hydrogen, fossil fuel stakeholders have been seeking new avenues of revenue in the petrochemical industry in general, and in plastics in particular. That’s bad news for a world already [https://www.unep.org/interactives/beat-plastic-pollution/ <u>swimming</u>]—literally—in plastic pollution. Product manufacturers and other upstream forces could reverse the petrochemical trend, but only if they—along with policymakers, voters, and consumers—continue to push for real change beyond the business-as-usual strategy of only advocating for post-consumer recycling.
Title
Ninety-Nine Percent of Seabirds Will Have Plastic in Their Guts Within Decades
Commentary
In 2015, a team of marine biologists in Costa Rica pried a plastic straw from the nose of a male olive ridley sea turtle. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wH878t78bw <u>Footage</u>] of the excruciating, bloody extraction was posted online and viewed by millions of people around the globe. The video is powerful not only because it suggests the pervasiveness of plastics and shows the harm it can inflict on a vulnerable species, but it also strikes a much deeper chord within: shame.
Title
Our Planet Versus Plastic Bags—A Tale of Two Cities
Commentary
Both Santa Fe and Albuquerque share many qualities and conditions, foremost among them a distinctive cultural mix of American, Hispanic/Latino, and Native American citizens. But the two communities are also dissimilar, and this is reflected in the way they have dealt with the plastic bag dilemma.
Title
Want to Help Stop the Plastic Scourge? Stop Relying on Recycling and Do This Instead
Commentary
“People can feel overwhelmed as they learn more about the issue,” says Carolynn Box, science programs director at 5 Gyres, one of several organizations working to combat the problem of plastic pollution, and highlighting what can be done about it. “That’s why it’s important to provide information and tools for people to take action.”
Title
Nanoplastics Are Entering Our Bodies
Commentary
Plastic is in the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the water we drink. How does it get there—and what does it mean for human health?
Title
How to Make Recyclable Plastics Out of CO2 to Slow Climate Change
Commentary
Chemists are manipulating carbon dioxide to make clothing, mattresses, shoes, and more. By recycling carbon, they are creating a circular economy.
Title
How Microplastics Threaten Marine Ecosystems and the Food Chain
Commentary
Microplastics are pervasive in marine ecosystems and the human food chain. Mussels act as key bioindicators, revealing how these particles accumulate in aquatic life and move up the food web. Ingestion harms marine organisms and may pose risks to human health through contaminated seafood.<div><div></div></div>
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