• Ocean

Plastic Pollution + Climate Change = Ocean Overload

• Ocean Plastic
• plastic pollution

By Ashira Morris, ODP Staff Writer Climate change and marine plastic pollution are fundamentally linked, and new research by the Zoological Society London and Bangor University examines their connection. The paper identifies three key ways these two issues are intertwined:   Greenhouse gas emissions caused by plastic’s life cycle (from production to disposal) perpetuates climate […]

• Ocean

Invasive Species are Hitch-hiking Thousands of Miles on Ocean Plastic

• invasive species
• Ocean Plastic
• plastic pollution

by Amy Lupica, ODP Staff Writer Invasive species are hitching a ride on increasing ocean plastic pollution, surfing to distant shores. For centuries, stowaways like zebra mussels arrived on the hulls of ships, but now, hundreds of species are “rafting” across oceans on marine litter. These invasive species now threaten the balance of ecosystems across the globe and exacerbate biodiversity […]

• Politics

The Public is Ready to Recycle as Congress Reintroduces Sweeping Plastics Reform

• #BreakFreeFromPlastic
• Ocean Plastic
• plastic
• pollution
• recycling
• World Wildlife Fund
• WWF

Last week, federal legislators reintroduced the Break Free from Plastic Pollution Act, which would pass sweeping recycling and single-use plastic regulations.  Experts from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) say that this bill has come at the right time, publishing a national poll that found 86% of Americans believe the U.S. must transition from a throw-away economy to one that emphasizes reuse and recycling.

Why This Matters: The U.S. is the largest plastic polluter in the world but only recycles 8.7% of its plastics. Much of that plastic takes the form of consumer packaging like plastic bags, wrappers, straws, and more.

• Ocean

NC Fishers Clean Up Marine Debris

• marine debris
• NOAA
• Ocean Plastic
• ocean pollution

by Ashira Morris, ODP Staff Writer Along North Carolina’s coast, commercial fishers who used to catch clams are now bringing in marine debris. The four-man crew was contracted by the North Carolina Coastal Federation to haul away debris from Hurricane Florence, which hit the state in 2018. It’s funded by the NOAA Marine Debris Program, […]

• Sustainability

New Study Shows Plastic Bags and Packaging Most Lethal to Marine Wildlife

• Ocean Plastic
• Planet or Plastic
• plastic pollution

by Natasha Lasky, ODP Contributing Writer A new study published in the journal Conservation Letters has found that plastic bags and flexible packaging are the most deadly bits of plastic waste in the world’s oceans. From a review of hundreds of scientific articles, the agency found that plastic ingestion was responsible for the deaths of […]

• Sustainability

Hero of the Week: Nattapong Nithi-Uthai and Thailand’s Trash Heroes

• flip flops
• marine debris
• Ocean Plastic
• plastic
• plastic bottles
• recycle
• Thailand
• upcycle

Nattapong Nithi-Uthai, a lecturer at the Faculty of Science and Technology of Prince of Songkla University in Thailand was shocked five years ago to realize the sheer amount of ocean debris that washes up on the beaches in his country. Thailand has a serious problem with ocean plastic —  it is the fifth biggest contributor […]