Turning the Tide on Plastic

Author: Lucy Siegle
Publisher: Hachette UK
ISBN: 1409183009
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 199

Book Description
Enough plastic is thrown away every year to circle the world 4 times More than 8 million tonnes of plastic enter the oceans each year 300 million tonnes of new plastic is produced every year An estimated 15-51 trillion pieces of plastic now litter the world's oceans 38.5 million plastic bottles are used every day in the UK A million plastic bottles are used per minute around the world 500 million plastic straws are used per year Without big action, at the current rate, pieces of plastic will outnumber fish in the ocean by 2050. That is the legacy we are leaving our children and grandchildren. Plastic flows into our lives from every direction and most of it is not recycled. Instead it is incinerated or ends up in landfill, where it will sit for hundreds of years, or enters the world's seas where it fragments into tiny pieces to become microplastics - the environmental scourge of our times. Many of us had assumed that governments, brands and waste authorities were dealing with plastic on our behalf. But the impact of shows such as Blue Planet along with national beach cleans and high-profile campaigns have resulted in a collective wake-up call. If there were plans and strategies, they have not worked as we imagined. It would be easy to feel despondent but instead we need to turn our anger and emotion into action, starting by making a big dent in our own enormous consumption. Turning the tide on Plastic is here just in time. Journalist, broadcaster and eco lifestyle expert Lucy Siegle provides a powerful call to arms to end the plastic pandemic along with the tools we need to make decisive change. It is a clear-eyed, authoritative and accessible guide to help us to take decisive and effective personal action. Because this matters. When it comes to single-use plastics, we are habitual users, reaching out for plastic water bottles, disposable coffee cups, plastic straws and carrier bags multiple times a day. If only 12 of us adopt Lucy's 'reduce, rethink, refill, refuse' approach, we could potentially ditch 3K-15K single items of plastic in a year. When we consider our power as influencers - whether at school, the hairdressers, at work or on the bus - we suddenly become part of something significant. So now is the time to speak up, take action and demand the change you want to see in the ocean, in the supermarket aisles and on the streets. It's time to turn the tide on plastic, and this book will show you how.

How to Give Up Plastic

Author: Will McCallum
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0525506144
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 185

Book Description
An accessible guide to the changes we can all make—small and large—to rid our lives of disposable plastic and clean up the world’s oceans How to Give Up Plastic is a straightforward guide to eliminating plastic from your life. Going room by room through your home and workplace, Greenpeace activist Will McCallum teaches you how to spot disposable plastic items and find plastic-free, sustainable alternatives to each one. From carrying a reusable straw, to catching microfibers when you wash your clothes, to throwing plastic-free parties, you’ll learn new and intuitive ways to reduce plastic waste. And by arming you with a wealth of facts about global plastic consumption and anecdotes from activists fighting plastic around the world, you’ll also learn how to advocate to businesses and leaders in your community and across the country to commit to eliminating disposable plastics for good. It takes 450 years for a plastic bottle to fully biodegrade, and there are around 12.7 million tons of plastic entering the ocean each year. At our current pace, in the year 2050 there could be more plastic in the oceans than fish, by weight. These are alarming figures, but plastic pollution is an environmental crisis with a solution we can all contribute to.

Junk Raft

Author: Marcus Eriksen
Publisher: Beacon Press
ISBN: 0807056413
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 242

Book Description
An exciting account of a scientist’s expedition across the Pacific on a home-made “junk raft” in order to learn more about plastic marine pollution A scientist, activist, and inveterate adventurer, Eriksen and his co-navigator, Joel Paschal, construct a “junk raft” made of plastic trash and set themselves adrift from Los Angeles to Hawaii, with no motor or support vessel, confronting perilous cyclones, food shortages, and a fast decaying raft. As Eriksen recounts his struggles to keep afloat, he immerses readers in the deep history of the plastic pollution crisis and the movement that has arisen to combat it. The proliferation of cheap plastic products during the twentieth century has left the world awash in trash. Meanwhile, the plastics industry, with its lobbying muscle, fights tooth and nail against any changes that would affect its lucrative status quo, instead defending poorly designed products and deflecting responsibility for the harm they cause. But, as Eriksen shows, the tide is turning in the battle to save the world’s oceans. He recounts the successful efforts that he and many other activists are waging to fight corporate influence and demand that plastics producers be held accountable. Junk Raft provides concrete, actionable solutions and an empowering message: it’s within our power to change the throw-away culture for the sake of our planet.

Turn the Tide

Author: Elaine Dimopoulos
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0358681499
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 368

Book Description
Twelve-year-old Mimi Laskaris is inspired by the Wijsen sisters of Bali to turn her focus from classical piano to a new obsession: forming a grassroots, kid-led movement to ban plastic bags in her new island home in Florida. Written in accessible verse, this timely story of environmental activism has extensive back matter for aspiring activists. With a foreword by Melati Wijsen, cofounder of Bye, Bye Plastic Bags. Mimi has a plan for her seventh grade year: play piano in the Young Artists competition at Carnegie Hall with her best friend, Lee; enjoy a good old Massachusetts snow day or two; and work in her community garden plot with her dad. But all that changes when her family’s Greek restaurant falls on hard times. The Laskarises’ relocation to Wilford Island, Florida, is a big key change for Mimi. Where does she fit in in this shell-covered paradise without Lee? Mimi is taken by the beauty of the island and alarmed by the plastic pollution she sees on the beaches. Then her science teacher, Ms. Miller, shows her class a TED Talk by Melati and Isabel Wijsen. At ages twelve and ten, they lobbied to ban single-use plastic bags on their home island of Bali—and won. Their story strikes a chord for Mimi. She’s twelve. Could a kid like her make such a big change in a place that she’s not yet sure feels like home? Can she manage to keep up with piano, her schoolwork, and activism? And does confident and flawless Carmen Alvarez-Hill really want to help her with the movement? In this story of environmental activism, friendship, and self-discovery, Mimi figures out what’s truly important to her, and takes her place in the ranks of real-life youth activists like the Wijsen sisters, Greta Thunberg, and Isra Hirsi.

Plastic Soup

Author: Michiel Roscam Abbing
Publisher: Island Press
ISBN: 1642830089
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 138

Book Description
Plastics have transformed every aspect of our lives. Yet the very properties that make them attractive—they are cheap to make, light, and durable—spell disaster when trash makes its way into the environment. Plastic Soup: An Atlas of Ocean Pollution is a beautifully-illustrated survey of the plastics clogging our seas, their impacts on wildlife and people around the world, and inspirational initiatives designed to tackle the problem. In Plastic Soup, Michiel Roscam Abbing of the Plastic Soup Foundation reveals the scope of the issue: plastic trash now lurks on every corner of the planet. With striking photography and graphics, Plastic Soup brings this challenge to brilliant life for readers. Yet it also sends a message of hope; although the scale of the problem is massive, so is the dedication of activists working to check it. Plastic Soup highlights a diverse array of projects to curb plastic waste and raise awareness, from plastic-free grocery stores to innovative laws and art installations. According to some estimates, if we continue on our current path, the oceans will contain more plastic than fish by the year 2050. Created to inform and inspire readers, Plastic Soup is a critical tool in the fight to reverse this trend.

Thicker Than Water

Author: Erica Cirino
Publisher: Island Press
ISBN: 1642831387
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 258

Book Description
Much of what you’ve heard about plastic pollution may be wrong. Instead of a great island of trash, the infamous Great Pacific Garbage Patch is made up of manmade debris spread over hundreds of miles of sea—more like a soup than a floating garbage dump. Recycling is more complicated than we were taught: less than nine percent of the plastic we create is reused, and the majority ends up in the ocean. And plastic pollution isn’t confined to the open ocean: it’s in much of the air we breathe and the food we eat. In Thicker Than Water: The Quest for Solutions to the Plastic Crisis, journalist Erica Cirino brings readers on a globe-hopping journey to meet the scientists and activists telling the real story of the plastic crisis. From the deck of a plastic-hunting sailboat with a disabled engine, to the labs doing cutting-edge research on microplastics and the chemicals we ingest, Cirino paints a full picture of how plastic pollution is threatening wildlife and human health. Thicker Than Water reveals that the plastic crisis is also a tale of environmental injustice, as poorer nations take in a larger share of the world’s trash, and manufacturing chemicals threaten predominantly Black and low-income communities. There is some hope on the horizon, with new laws banning single-use items and technological innovations to replace plastic in our lives. But Cirino shows that we can only fix the problem if we face its full scope and begin to repair our throwaway culture. Thicker Than Water is an eloquent call to reexamine the systems churning out waves of plastic waste.

Go Toxic Free

Author: Anna Turns
Publisher: Michael O'Mara Books
ISBN: 1789293448
Category : House & Home
Languages : en
Pages : 277

Book Description
Taking you on an in-depth tour of your everyday household products, Anna Turns reveals the harmful chemicals that lurk inside your home, the damage they can cause and helpful swaps and tips to avoid them wherever you can.

The Last Straw

Author: Zoe Matthiessen
Publisher: North Atlantic Books
ISBN: 1623174635
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 35

Book Description
Meet Sippy, the world's last plastic straw Sippy, a plastic straw who was used once and then discarded, worries what will happen to him when he realizes he can't be recycled. As he flies, floats, and flutters around the planet, he meets animals who are struggling with the plastic problem. He chats with a raccoon with a six-pack ring around his neck, a cardinal whose nest is made entirely of junk, turtles who confuse grocery bags with food, a hermit crab forced to live in a plastic cap, and a startled duck who runs around with a chip bag on her head. Finally, Sippy is swallowed by a hungry whale who is dining on ocean trash! Just when all hope seems lost, he skyrockets to freedom and calls out "Together we can fix this! Let's clean our world--let's try!" Parents and teachers of children 7 to 10 years old can use Sippy's colorful adventure--based on real examples of animals in our environment--to raise awareness about the impacts of plastics on nature and to teach children about alternatives to single-use plastics.

Little Pago

Author: Lauren Briggs
Publisher: Boolarong Press
ISBN: 1922643009
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 32

Book Description
Against a magical background of coral flowers and seaweed gardens, Little Pago and his friends set out on an adventurous journey in search for food. However, not everything floating in the ocean is safe for a baby turtle to eat. This children’s fiction picture book, with an environmental and sustainable focus is written and illustrated for 2-5 year olds to share with their parents, carers and pre-school teachers. Little Pago is an imaginative, compelling and inspiring story about friendship, perseverance and the important role each of us can play in keeping one of our oceans most ancient and endangered sea creatures safe for future generations.

Ocean Champions

Author: Michelle Mech
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781721076062
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 40

Book Description
Empower Children to help save our oceans. With nine million tons of plastic debris entering the oceans every year from the land - the equivalent of one large garbage truck full every minute - plastic in our oceans is a problem so devastating and colossal that it is easy to give up in despair, feeling there is no way to make a real difference. But Ocean Champions - A Journey into Seas of Plastic not only communicates this huge environmental problem to young children in an entertaining and educational story; it also empowers them to make a difference by influencing the adults in their lives and by taking action to become champions for our oceans. Ocean Champions is beautifully illustrated and tells a tale of two children, Kai and Morgan, who are playing on a beach and befriend Botley, a plastic bottle who is afraid of being washed into the ocean. They soon discover a dolphin tangled in fishing net and call a rescue centre for help. The rescuers arrive in the super submersible, Spirit, and thus begins a journey of discovery about the devastating effects that plastic debris is having on marine animals, either through external entanglement that injures, traps, and often drowns them or through plastic ingestion, which causes suffering and often death. Spirit also takes them to see all the ocean plastic in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Along the way the children learn why our oceans are so important, how plastic gets into the oceans and what happens to it there, why marine animals mistake plastic for food, and more. The story presents the sad facts in a way that doesn't overwhelm. The child characters learn and accept and then go on to do something about plastic in our oceans, inspiring readers to also become agents of change. The addendum provides more information, including actions to reduce our use of plastic, which gives readers immediate ways to start helping. The oceanchampions.ca website is designed to be an extension of the book and includes additional information about plastic and our oceans, teaching aids that contain lots of fun activities, success stories, student projects, and 'in the news' posts.