Good news about plastic, sort of ....

Global plastic production has risen nearly 6-fold since 1980.

There has been a lot of focus on both the length of time it takes plastics to break down and their tendency to accumulate in the ocean (particularly the 'Great Pacific Garbage Patch'). Brought together by ocean currents known as gyres, the plastics have dramatically detrimental consequences for ocean birds.

Recently, there have been a couple of studies shedding new (and, perhaps, hopeful) news about plastics. First, there is evidence that plastic breaks down in the ocean much faster than previously believed. On the down side, the breakdown tends to release potentially toxic chemicals like Bisphenol_A which Health Canada has declared as hazardous to human health.

Second, the current issue of Science reports the result of a 22 year study of the accumulation of plastic in the less publicized 'Atlantic gyre' (see illustration).

One surprising finding is that the concentration of floating plastic debris has not increased during the 22-year period of the study, despite the fact that the plastic disposal has increased substantially. The whereabouts of the "missing plastic" is unknown.
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A companion study published in Marine Pollution Bulletin details the characteristics of the plastic debris collected in these tows. Most of the plastic is millimeters in size and consists of polyethylene or polypropylene, materials that float in seawater. There is evidence that biological growth may alter the physical characteristics of the plastic over time, perhaps causing it to sink.

Thus, like the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, this may be more a case of out-of-sight out-of-mind, than a real good news story.

The full report is available here: Kara Lavender Law, Skye Moret-Ferguson, Nikolai A. Maximenko, Giora Proskurowski, Emily E. Peacock, Jan Hafner, and Christopher M. Reddy. Plastic Accumulation in the North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre. Science, 2010; DOI: 10.1126/science.1192321

The Journey of a Plastic Bag

Futurestates is an interesting website. Aimed at provoking thought about the mid-term future (e.g., the next 50 years), the site has 11 fictional mini-feature films exploring potential futures through the lens of contemporary global issues. My favorite -- with the voice of noted film director Werner Herzog -- is the story of a plastic bag (available by link if the player below doesn't work).

Plastic, Plastic, Everywhere .....

Chris Jordan recently returned from a photographic trip to the Midway Atoll, located near the Pacific Trash Vortex (an area of the Pacific Ocean twice the size of Texas where the ocean currents accumulate garbage). While there he photographed the decaying body’s of dead albatross chicks full of plastic they had consumed.



While Jordan's photography has always focused on environmental matters, the current work packs much more emotional punch. His earlier work, like the image shown below, tended to be cool, rational reflections on the scale of human impact. Packing Peanuts (2009) is a 60x80" depiction of 166,000 packing peanuts, equal to the number of overnight packages shipped by air in the U.S. every hour.



Here is a closer view. Other images can be viewed on his website.