Ghana’s plastic pollution polycrisis (3P) has reached a critical tipping point, manifesting complex and compounded ecological, public-health and economic challenges that are getting out of hand. Wi…

Plastic bags and bottles, aquaculture feed bags, nylon netting and ropes don’t sound like the makings of a healthy fishing haul. However, nets replete with these items are a near-daily reality for the majority of fishers interviewed by researchers during a recent study in Vietnam. Plastic waste causes small-scale fishers in Vietnam to lose an average of US$3,421 per vessel, per year, in lost fishing time, reduced catch efficiency and damaged gear, the study assessing the economic impacts of plastic debris on fishing livelihoods found. This represents a 10-25 per cent reduction in the annual income of vessel owners. Fishers interviewed for the study reported that they had significantly increased their fishing efforts in recent years in response to the combined pressures of overexploited fish stocks and plastic pollution. “Before, 6-7 hauls were enough [to turn a profit],” one interviewee told the researchers. “Now it takes 20-25 hauls.” The study also highlights how fishers could play a significant role in solutions tackling the plastic pollution crisis, including through “fishing for litter” programs that pay fishers modest financial incentives to bring back plastic bycatch for disposal and processing on land. “When you see firsthand the sheer volume of [plastic waste] in...

Scientists found melted plastic embedded inside coral rubble on three subtropical Japanese beaches.

Microplastics and nanoplastics are increasingly found throughout aquatic environments, raising concern about whether these tiny particles can move from exposed parents into their offspring.

Researchers found plasticoral on Okinawa beaches, where heat-altered plastic had become fused with coral rubble in a strange new form of pollution.

Plastic pollution is pervasive across agrifood systems, creating interconnected illustrative pathways of exposure and harm across environmental, plant, animal and human systems. This technical brief illustrates these linkages through four interconnected impact pathways and demonstrates that plastic pollution is a cross-cutting threat to ecosystem integrity, animal health and welfare, food safety, food security and human well-being. A One Health approach provides a practical framework to connect these impacts and support integrated, preventive and adaptive responses across agrifood systems.

GET INVOLVED: http://action.storyofstuff.org/signup/stop-plastic-pollution-social/ FOLLOW US: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/storyofstuff/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/storyofstuff Instagram:…

Brad Huskinson of Beyond Plastics presented on the limits of plastic recyclability, disposal pathways and advocacy options, and connected local collection models to regional processors including Quantum Organics and HRRA.

The public will have its say in an October meeting.

Nature Leaves No Waste A bird leaves a footprint. A turtle leaves a trail. A crab shapes the sand. Humans often leave something else behind: waste. This powerful image highlights a fundamental chall...

Throughout her career, Zoe Heller, director of CalRecycle, has been focused on the human connection to environmental effects. That focus

Microplastics are a modern environmental menace and a potential threat to human health. These tiny pieces of plastic, measuring from 1 to 5,000 micrometers, come mainly from larger plastics as well as...