By Dianna Cohen, Co-Founder & CEO, Plastic Pollution Coalition
Sixteen years ago, I teamed up with surfers, artists, and scientists to raise awareness about plastic pollution and try to clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. I imagined turning the collected plastic into housing bricks and creating art from the pollution. As a visual artist working with plastic bags as my primary material, I saw firsthand how plastic breaks into small fragments in both my art and in the ocean. My plan took a drastic turn after consulting with scientists, who taught me that the largest swath of ocean plastic is not an island of floating debris as I had imagined, but a vast area resembling a plastic soup or smog, with particles dispersed throughout. This realization changed the course of my mission.
Imagine an area four times the size of Texas, 618,000 square miles, where a staggering 94% of plastic is in the form of microplastics. The sheer magnitude of this formidable problem, with an estimated 170 trillion micro and nanoplastics in the ocean, is a shocking reality.
This revelation inspired me to co-found Plastic Pollution Coalition, and we’re marking our 15th anniversary on October 24. It became clear that we, as a collective, must tackle the real root of the problem: preventing plastic pollution from ever reaching streams, rivers, lakes, and the ocean by turning off the tap on plastic production. We all share this responsibility, and it’s within our power to make a difference. During the TED Mission Blue expedition in the Galapagos Islands, I shared this personal realization in my 2010 TED Talk, which has now been viewed more than a million times.
As the fossil fuel and petrochemical industries continue to ramp up plastic production, humanity is facing plastic’s toxic impacts, persistent injustices, and health consequences. Polluting companies promote cleanups to well-meaning individuals and groups and even fund these efforts to continue business as usual by putting the responsibility on individuals. But they ignore the bigger picture: when the tub is overflowing, we can’t simply mop the floor while the tap pours exponentially faster.
As cleanups are increasingly promoted—especially around World Cleanup Day in September—one powerful tool to make real change is to reinforce brand audits. Collecting data on the brand names and products found amongst the collected plastic is crucial for identifying the top polluters and driving accountability through policy change and lawsuits targeting greenwashing and microplastic pollution.
Another important consideration: where does the plastic from cleanups go after it’s collected? Not where you might think. The brutal truth and dirty secret is that plastic is not, and never was designed to be recycled. Most plastic ends up in landfills or incineration facilities, contributing to climate change.
The real focus must be on capping plastic production and turning off the plastic tap. Research indicates plastic production must be cut by at least 75% by 2040 for the planet to stay below the critical 1.5°C climate threshold. If we carry on as we have been, we risk destroying our health, our communities, and our environment.
Everyone is impacted—as plastic particles and chemicals (including “forever chemicals”) are in our air, water, soil, and food. Plastic is found in the deepest parts of the ocean to the highest mountain peaks, yet it does not impact us all equally. Plastic pollution unjustly harms low-income, rural, and Black, Brown, Indigenous, and People of Color communities.
Simply put, plastic poisons people and endangers all life on our planet.
By 2050, it’s estimated that 99% of seabirds will have ingested plastic, and today, microplastics are impacting and potentially disrupting the ocean carbon cycle.
We must focus on solutions that truly make a difference. Protecting the ocean means addressing plastic pollution at its very source.
Thankfully, we know what we need to do about it.
This November, world leaders will gather in Busan, South Korea, to negotiate the final stages of the United Nations Plastics Treaty. This is a pivotal moment to stop plastics, toxic chemicals, and fossil fuels at the source. Now, more than ever, we must avoid amplifying false solutions that distract us from the truth: We must turn off the plastic tap. The world is watching for bold solutions, and I urge you to join me in calling on the U.S. Government to take the lead.
