Dianna Cohen: Tough truths about plastic pollution

 

Artist Dianna Cohen shares some tough truths about plastic pollution in the ocean and in our lives — and some thoughts on how to free ourselves from the plastic gyre.

Dianna Cohen is the co-founder of the Plastic Pollution Coalition, a group that addresses the pervasive problem of plastic pollution. She was inspired to co-found the group by her work as an artist — because her chosen material is the ubiquitous plastic bag. She writes: “Having worked with the plastic bag as my primary material for the past fifteen years, all of the obvious references to recycling, first-world culture, class, high and low art give way to an almost formal process which reflects the unique flexibility of the medium.”

With the Plastic Pollution Coalition, she helps to raise awareness of ocean waste — the majority of which is nondegradable plastic — and everyday strategies to cut down the amount of plastic we use and throw away.

Bag it, new documentary about plastification of our world

New interesting must see documentary ‘Bag it’ about plastification of the world! I still believe good documentaries can change our perception of how we threat our earth, here we have a documentary that falls in that category. Go to the website and request a screening @ your school, local community or independent cinema!

BAG IT

information from press kit

“Documentary is a Powerful Look at the Impacts of Plastics on Society”Americans use 60,000 plastic bags every five minutes, disposable bags that they throw away without muchthought. But where is “away?” Where do the bags and other plastics end up, and at what cost to the environment, marine life and human health?

Bag It follows “everyman” Jeb Berrier as he navigates our plastic world. Jeb is not a radical environmentalist, but an average American who decides to take a closer look at our cultural love affair with plastics. Jeb’s journey in this documentary film starts with simple questions: Are plastic bags really necessary? What are plastic bags made from? What happens to plastic bags after they are discarded? What he learns quickly grows far beyond plastic bags.

http://www.bagitmovie.com

Now Atlantic is found to have huge ‘garbage patch’

A huge expanse of floating plastic debris has been documented for the first time in the North Atlantic Ocean. The size of the affected area rivals the “great Pacific garbage patch” in the world’s other great ocean basin, which generated an outcry over the effects of plastic waste on marine wildlife.

The new plastic waste, which was discovered in an area of the Atlantic to the east of Bermuda, consists mostly of fragments no bigger than a few millimetres wide. But their concentrations and the area of the sea that is covered have caused consternation among marine biologists studying the phenomenon.

A huge expanse of floating plastic debris has been documented for the first time in the North Atlantic Ocean. The size of the affected area rivals the “great Pacific garbage patch” in the world’s other great ocean basin, which generated an outcry over the effects of plastic waste on marine wildlife.
The new plastic waste, which was discovered in an area of the Atlantic to the east of Bermuda, consists mostly of fragments no bigger than a few millimetres wide. But their concentrations and the area of the sea that is covered have caused consternation among marine biologists studying the phenomenon.

read the whole article in the Independent

TEDtalk: Capt. Charles Moore on the seas of plastic

Capt. Charles Moore of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation first discovered the Great Pacific Garbage Patch — an endless floating waste of plastic trash. Now he’s drawing attention to the growing, choking problem of plastic debris in our seas