For tomorrow's show/Plastic Soup Foundation

We are excited about recording a show tomorrow with this group in the Netherlands.  Plastic pollution is a complicated subject.  Right now we need plastic for many consumer products.  Yet that convenience leads to destruction of part of our eco-system.  Is the trade off worth it?

Here's some of their data and background.  Plastic Soup Foundation is part of a growing effort to better understand our use, maybe abuse, of plastic.  We know the appeal of polystyrene;  it is cheap, last forever, is amazingly flexible and helps bring an incredible array of packaging options to retailers.  Of course, those are the same reasons we are swimming in oceans of plastic.

This is one of the battle lines of migrating to a new economy.  What are the alternatives?  How much more will we pay for goods?  Do we destroy jobs if we outlaw the use of plastic?

Tune in to find out at Renewable Now.biz:

Plastic does not belong in the ocean

The contamination of the oceans by plastics is an added problem to global warming, acidification and overfishing. The oceans form 72% of the earth’s surface and are our main suppliers of oxygen. Plastic pollution is therefore a serious threat to earth’s vital ecosystem, especially because plastic does not biodegrade. Through the degradation and fragmentation of plastics into small pieces, all our water changes into a global soup of microplastics. Toxic chemicals are also released by these plastics. Animals, even zooplankton, mistake the broken down plastic for food. In this way toxic waste often enters our food chain. A large part of the world’s population is dependent on food from the ocean. The plastic contamination of the water can do serious harm to our health. Against this background, the Plastic Soup Foundation (PSF) wants to call a halt to the increasing plastic contamination of our oceans. The PSF wants to strongly advocate for that no more plastic enters in the sea in the future.

1. The PSF aims to prevent even more plastic entering the environment in all possible ways.
2. The PSF supports measures which prevent leakage of plastic waste into the environment (into the sea).
3. The PSF seeks international cooperation with experts, politicians, organisations, universities and businesses that have a similar vision and objectives.
4. The PSF works closely together with leading scientists, researchers and enterprises.
5. The PSF wants to shape and support a movement that, using social media, encourages the active participation of citizens and involves them in working on solutions and compiling a list of good practices.
6. The PSF informs the public and gives lectures at schools.
7. The PSF wants microplastics which enter the environment to be considered harmful emissions. Products which contain these microplastics or cause them must be phased out or banned by law.
8. The PSF strongly supports assisting developing countries in tackling pollution problems. Alternatives have to be developed that take the local culture and context into account. This is pursued through a collaborative process of sustainable and interactive development.
9. The PSF supports actions that aim to remove plastic from the sea, the beaches and islands.

VISION

To tackle the problem a global approach is required. The current system of production and consumption of plastics is not sustainable. This has to make way for new systems on the basis of alternative raw materials and innovative processes. The Plastic Soup Foundation wants to contribute by the promotion of: international cooperation, projects by and with leading enterprises, dissemination of good practices for sustainable solutions. In addition, through (social) media and dissemination of independent information, PSF puts pressure on industry and governments to realise true change.