5 Gyres - Understanding Plastic Pollution Through Exploration, Education, and Action

Our oceans are in trouble. And no amount of goodwill, public concern, beach cleanups or Seafood Watch Cards will "fix" our oceans without leadership from Washington DC - without setting achievable goals, drafting legislation,  and getting our municipalities on board with energy policies, pollution control, marine protected areas, and the like.

The 3rd annual Blue Visions Summit, coming up in a few weeks in Washington, DC, is an opportunity to bring together a broad network of marine conservation groups to discuss collaboration, coordination, sharing resources, and developing national policies. Coordinated by the Blue Frontier Campaign, Blue Visions has assembled some 2,000 blue groups that founder David Helvarg calls "Seaweed Rebels" the "grassroots" of the ocean conservation world.




This year, the Blue Visions Summit will be holding a Plastic Pollution Panel, to discuss some greatly needed collaborative solutions, and to hear the latest update on the science from key researchers and communicators in the field: Kara Lavender Law from SEA Education, our own Marcus Eriksen, Leslie Tamminen, a powerhouse on the policy/legislative front, and Daniella Russo from the PPC. I will be introducing the panel, and possibly joining to say a word about ecological impacts - what we know thus far, and where more research is still needed.

One thing we do know, and agree on: though there are still many unknowns about plastic marine pollution, particularly on the human health implications, we have enough information to warrant immediate action.

We simply don't have time to wait for irrefutable evidence that POPs are entering the food chain and impacting human health, or that the density of plastic particles is increasing (or not) by x factor in our oceans. We have now seen evidence of plastic pollution in all 5 subtropical gyres. We have seen beaches on remote islands trashed with plastic washed up from far away continents. And we have seen plastic in the stomachs of seabirds, sea turtles, and fish.

No amount of public education and/or outreach will encourage 6.5 billion people to bring their own reusable bags, or dispose of plastic packaging correctly. We need legislation to require companies and municipalities to limit plastic pollution. We need achievable target reductions for plastic waste. We need industry to cooperate with designing more recyclable products, and taking responsibility for the end life of the products they create.

These are the sorts of policy solutions that the Blue Visions Summit is designed to facilitate, by bringing together the major conservation players, and agreeing on next steps.

If you haven't already registered for Blue Visions, now is the time - we look forward to seeing you in Washington DC!