Experiments show that microplastics damage aquatic creatures, as well as turtles and birds: They block digestive tracts, diminish the urge to eat, and alter feeding behaviour, all of which reduce growth and reproductive output. Their stomachs stuffed with plastic, some species starve and die.
such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and heavy metals—tend to adhere to their surfaces.
A video that talks about the dangers of micro plastics in products that we use. From toothpaste, shampoo, foundation etc, these products could contain polyethylene which you could be washing down your drains into the ocean.
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Versatile, pliable, durable, cheap to produce—and ubiquitous. Plastic is all of that. It is also both a life-saving miracle product and the scourge of the Earth. Here are eight essential facts to keep in mind.
In December 2018, Great Britain's Royal Statistical Society named the fact that only about nine percent of all plastic ever made has likely been recycled its statistic of the year.
This site offered really great information in terms of research heavily based on plastic waste. What made this research really beneficial is also seeing how the information was presented. The infographics shown has inspired ways in which I can use design to highlight the dangers of plastic pollution. Could create a series of postcards that could be sent to people (sponsored by national geographic) to spread the world.
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Whilst collecting research on plant pollution, I cam across an It's Nice That article which talked about how a climate- focussed design studio 'Two Degrees Creative".
Two Degree Creative have set up their instgram and account and have asked other creatives to design a logo that represent what recycling is today.
Having thought about the general impact creativity has on all walks of life, he realised that he wanted to create “a single place for people to connect to the subject, through the creative industries, initiatives and sustainable projects,” with the end goal of forming a community of creatives dedicated to climate change.
“We’ll be running creative donation campaigns for old devices and passing them on to companies that genuinely recycle for good,” he says. “This could be done through a new style of donation bin or a clever campaign with a drop off zone. This will again run on the same open brief model and then we will connect the winning solution to some form of funding and bring it to life.”
The devices that can’t be salvaged for future-use will find themselves broken down into components and then sent out to artists in order to create work that raises further awareness about the impact each of us has on the planet we call home."
*** I really liked the way in which the have presented information in the above imagery - applying infographics in this way may be more visually appealing to the younger demographic. From the imagery given I can tell that this is photocopied layers - which can be easily explore and played around with to create interesting textures.
I was really inspired by this design studio, I decided to message them through Instagram and see if they could help me with finding good sources, similar to what they have used.
They were really kind and generous and offered a large list based on both Climate Facts and Waste Facts - I'll be looking more into the waste facts for the plastic ocean project.
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https://www.earthday.org/2018/03/07/fact-sheet-end-plastic-pollution/
8.3 BILLION Metric Tons (9.1 BILLION US Tons) of plastic has been produced since plastic was introduced in the 1950s. The amount of plastic produced in a year is roughly the same as the entire weight of humanity.
Virtually every piece of plastic that was ever made still exists in some shape or form (with the exception of the small amount that has been incinerated)
91% of plastic waste isn’t recycled. And since most plastics don’t biodegrade in any meaningful sense, all that plastic waste could exist for hundreds or even thousands of years.
**** Highlighted facts will be ones that I will further look into and potentially use for the final outcome of this brief.
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“More than 8 million tons of plastic are dumped in our oceans every year.”
We are now producing nearly 300 million tons of plastic every year, half of which is for single use. More than 8 million tons of plastic is dumped into our oceans every year.
Annually approximately 500 billion plastic bags are used worldwide. More than one million bags are used every minute.
A plastic bag has an average “working life” of 15 minutes.
Plastic is cheap and incredibly versatile with properties that make it ideal for many applications. However, these qualities have also resulted in it becoming an environmental issue. We have developed a “disposable” lifestyle and estimates are that around 50% of plastic is used just once and thrown away.
Plastic is a valuable resource in many ways, but plastic pollution is an unnecessary and unsustainable waste of that resource.
- Packaging is the largest end-use market segment accounting for just over 40% of total plastic usage.
- Annually approximately 500 billion plastic bags are used worldwide. More than one million bags are used every minute.
- A plastic bag has an average “working life” of 15 minutes.
- Over the last ten years we have produced more plastic than during the whole of the last century.
Beverage Bottles Alone
- According to the Container Recycling Institute, 100.7 billion plastic beverage bottles were sold in the U.S. in 2014, or 315 bottles per person.
- 57% of those units were plastic water bottles: 57.3 billion sold in 2014. This is up from 3.8 billion plastic water bottles sold in 1996, the earliest year for available data.
- The process of producing bottled water requires around 6 times as much water per bottle as there is in the container.
- 14% of all litter comes from beverage containers. When caps and labels are considered, the number is higher.
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Adidas
"We are working with Parley to keep plastic from entering our oceans and transform it into high-performance sportswear. Spinning the problem into a solution. The threat into a thread."
AVOID
No plastic bags. No microbeads. And next up, no more virgin plastic in our supply chain.
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INTERCEPT
Our aim is to stop plastic before it enters the ocean. But the change is on all of us.
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REDESIGN
We are driving eco-innovation for materials, products and new ways of using them. New methods. New mindsets. New future.
Adidas shows a really interesting and amazing way to combat ocean pollution, these eco-friendly recyclable shoes both promote and raise funds for ocean pollution. This shows that this research brief can be approached in an open creative way.
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The Research of 'Gyre - The Plastic Ocean'
Note to self
The juxtaposition in pages from the photo of the school of fish in the sea to the next page being filled with plastic was really clever. It created an impact of the beauty of nature and destruction of plastic pollution.
"Art and science come together in this project as a way to provide an impactful visual narrative for scientific data and investigation." pg 13
"Two sperm whales stranded on the northern California coast in 2008 had large amounts plastic debris and fishing nets in their stomachs in their stomachs - nearly 134 different types of nets between the two" pg 15
"Packing bands are the number one culprit for entanglements in the stellar sea lions thats are surveyed." - pg22
"You get the feeling the plastic will remain here even after the bones themselves bleach and pulverise into dust and blow away"
"another dead albatross chick, its whole rib cage packed with plastic - various shades of blues, pinks, oranges, various pieces of bottles, and even the plastic legs of a toy soldier. And a coloured cigarette lighters." - pg 29
The Albatross Mother Story - pg 30 - 31
"Pacific Albatrosses eat greater volumes and more varieties of plastic than any other bird"
pg 41 - Plastics : The first 100 years
"`Plastics take up about 25% of the space in landfills worldwide." - pg 50
Mandy Barker - Snow Flurry
"Mandy Barkers work aims to engage with and stimulate as emotional response the viewer by combining a contradiction between initial aesthetic attraction and a subsequent message of awareness. Her recent photographic projects have been focused on the representation of material debris in the sea and more recently on the mass accumulation of plastic in the worlds ocean."
"A lifelong collector, artist Fran Crowe uses the trash that she finds along the English east coast as the material for her artwork. She estimates that she has collected (and recycled) over 100,000 pieces of plastic debris while walking on beaches near her home. She sees her installations as a kind of self portrait of ourselves: a contemporary - and disturbing -archaeological dig" pg 65
"an installation of hundreds of pieces of trash collected from beaches around the world, packaged with irony "souvenirs". pg 68
"Each year, approximately 5 tons (nearly 10,000 pounds) of plastics are brought to Midway not by currents or wind, but in the stomachs of birds." pg 79
2012 Clean UP - pg 82-82
"Volunteers found enough food packaging for someone to get takeout for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day for 858 years."
"The amount of oil required to manufacture the 10 million plastic bags collected over this same period equates to roughly 23,000 gallons of gasoline, enough fuel to drive a car around the Earth three times"
"Volunteers have documented more than 4,400 entangled animals, including a range of sea turtles, sharks, porpoises and seabirds."
"267 to 663 species are affected" by plastic pollution in the ocean.
pg 84-85
"Plastic Pollution is personal. It affects out local economy, our local beaches and out health and food safety. The everyday decisions we make have very real, lasting implications for the well-being of the ocean and ourselves."
"The ocean impacts each of us every day. It provides the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat." - pg 92
"9 things you can do, for trash-free seas.
1) Can it - use a trash can with a lid
2) Tap it - Drink tap water in a reusable bottle
3) Stow it - be a green boater.
4) Butt in - write your legislator asking for policies that address ocean trash
5) Remove it - clean up with the international coastal cleanup www.signuptocleanup.org
6) Butt out - use an ashtray so cigarette butts don't reach waterways and then the ocean
7) Reuse it - Take along you reusable coffee mug, picnic supplies or shopping bag.
8) Refuse it - Buy less to reduce the amount of manufactures items winding up as trash in the ocean.
9) Reinvent it - send emails to companies asking them to reduce packaging and create new ocean- friendly materials.
Bottle caps collected from 'Gore Point' and analysed by Nicholas Mallos
which identifies where each bottle cap comes from - majority all being
in Asia.
*** This could be a creative way to look at forming infographics
6 degrees of separation: pg 97
- Plastic bas from a store in the city
- Blows from a trash can
- Into a storm drain
- Travels through pipes and downriver
- into the ocean
- where marine wildlife mistake it for food.
- In 2008 United National Environmental Program reported 405 dead zones. Dead zones are the result of natural upwelling of nutrients, a process called eutrophication; that boosts production and decomposition of phytoplankton leading to a depletion of dissolved oxygen.
- Scientists estimate 10% of the worlds coral reefs are now dead and 60% are at risk due to human activities.
- It is generally acknowledged that the marine debris 60%-80% plastic, reaching 90-95% in some areas.
pg 139 - very important
*** Overall this book really helped inform key elements and facts that I want to address. The quotes taken and noted will be ones that i look into further - potentially making a final outcome based around theses facts.
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"The newest cover of National Geographic is set to become
one for the ages. As the world continues to drown in
single-use plastic, the iconic magazine has launched a
multi-year initiative called Planet or Plastic? The newly
is a heartbreaking visualisation of the reality we’re
collectively facing."
The digital illustration, titled Iceberg Plástico, shows a plastic bag submerged deep into the ocean, with just the “tip of the iceberg” peering above. The simple, direct message and metaphor is a striking commentary on the public’s awareness of the issue and the fact that many don’t understand the impact of plastic on the environment. The Mexican artist first created the photo-illustration in 2017 for Bolivia’s Biennial of Poster Art, where it took home first prize in the political and social posters field.
The design is sticking and compelling, the simplest use of photoshop with imagery creates an iconic image for the ages highlighting the dangers of single use plastic. The designs hints at the idea that this topic has more underlying issues that others may not look at. A small tip of the iceberg yet envelopes into a large icon of destruction and pollution.
*** This design is approach highlights how much of an impact design can have in forming a message - I want to use this as inspiration with future design work.
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Designed by green hat
We designed this poster to promote the amazing work of Refill Bristol and encourage people to give up plastic bottles and more for the Plastic Free Challenge 14 February – 29 March! Share far and wide and help combat plastic pollution
Poster design incorporates illustrative approach highlighting wildlife in abundance being subjected to trash that we throw away. Symbolism represents how we are treating the ocean like a trash bin.
To look over more design ideas and approaches I decided to create a Pinterest board and search up different design outcomes that have been created. It gives a good idea of what has been approached in design so far. Helps with idea generation and helps avoid existing design ideas.
Plastic and Faces:
The design approach to some of these ideas looks at combing portraits entangles and surrounded in plastic, mimicking the circumstances animals withstand. It offers an approach of putting us in the marine life perspective, seeing what they are going through.
Making Marine life out of Plastic
This design approach maybe something that is heavily used. In this poster design it is simplistically used one simple plastic bags shaped as a stingrays.
Resin Lollipop
I really like this design approach to showing the content in the ocean, the individual resin pops encase different forms of pollutants in the ocean along with different wrappers that show the contents. The excessive amounts of lollipops shows the excessive pollution in one beach. Also the reason in which they are designed as a lollipop offers a juxtapositional response to the message.
An abundance of plastic
A installation that is filled with plastic picked up and chucked away to show the every ending scene of plastic.
Drink Plastic?
Trying to make the dangers of plastic look interesting on a magazine, it forms of juxtaposition of what beauty is - shows the dangers of consumerism.
Food Packaging
This poster design highlights the dangers of the plastic pollution in the ocean. Either it highlights how the amount of plastic in the is surpassing the amount of fish or the micro plastics being eaten by fish is potentially what we will consume.
Trash, Straws and Jaws
Simple and clever reference to Jaws, highlighting how the plastic pollution we have created is more deadly to use that sharks.
Dead Turtle
Sharing a harrowing image of a baby turtle dead is a very harsh yet effective way to get attention. Forms an information, education purpose of the design and creates a sympathetic response from viewers. Seeing the content in the carcass of the baby turtle highlights how how the situation is out fault.
The sad reality of plastic pollution
This is a really cleaver design idea, taking a social media trend and making it into something that juxtaposes those values to form a strong impactful message about the dangers and excessive damage of plastic pollution.
Ways to approach the project:
- place the viewer in the danger of the marine life
- Show the dangers of how plastic can be ingested
- Show the damage done to the animals directly
- Infographic poster design
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Photography by Randy Olson
This article written by Laura
"Because plastic wasn’t invented until the late 19th century, and production really only took off around 1950, we have a mere 9.2 billion tons of the stuff to deal with. Of that, more than 6.9 billion tons have become waste. And of that waste, a staggering 6.3 billion tons never made it to a recycling bin—a figure that stunned the scientists who crunched the numbers in 2017."
Imagine five plastic grocery bags stuffed with plastic trash, Jambeck says, sitting on every foot of coastline around the world—that would correspond to about 8.8 million tons.
After sheets of clear plastic trash have been washed in the Buriganga River, in Dhaka, Bangladesh,
Noorjahan spreads them out to dry, turning them regularly— while also tending to her son,
Momo. The plastic will eventually be sold to a recycler. Less than a fifth of all plastic gets
recycled globally. In the U.S. it’s less than 10 percent.
Plastic bottles choke the Cibeles fountain, outside city hall in central Madrid. An art
collective called Luzinterruptus filled this and two other Madrid fountains with 60,000
discarded bottles last fall as a way of calling attention to the environmental impact of
disposable plastics.
Animals
ocean plastic is estimated to kill millions of marine animals every year. Nearly 700 species, including endangered ones, are known to have been affected by it. Some are harmed visibly—strangled by abandoned fishing nets or discarded six-pack rings. Many more are probably harmed invisibly.
Marine species of all sizes, from zooplankton to whales, now eat microplastics, the bits smaller than one-fifth of an inch across.
Ted Siegler - Vermont resource economist
“This isn’t a problem where we don’t know what the solution is,” says Ted Siegler, a Vermont resource economist who has spent more than 25 years working with developing nations on garbage. “We know how to pick up garbage. Anyone can do it. We know how to dispose of it. We know how to recycle.” It’s a matter of building the necessary institutions and systems, he says—ideally before the ocean turns, irretrievably and for centuries to come, into a thin soup of plastic.
Photography by Justin Hofman
To ride currents, seahorses clutch drifting seagrass or other natural debris. In the polluted
waters off the Indonesian island of Sumbawa, this seahorse latched onto a plastic
cotton swab—“a photo I wish didn’t exist,” says photographer Justin Hofman.
Microplastics have been found everywhere in the ocean that people have looked, from sediments on the deepest seafloor to ice floating in the Arctic—which, as it melts over the next decade, could release more than a trillion bits of plastic into the water
On some beaches on the Big Island of Hawaii, as much as 15 percent of the sand is actually grains of microplastic.
He worries more about the things that none of us can see—the chemicals added to plastics to give them desirable properties, such as malleability, and the even tinier nanoplastics that microplastics presumably degrade into. Those might pass into the tissues of fish and humans.
This imagery and commendation highlights the vast amount of unnecessary plastic that china promotes, Yiwu International Trade Centre is comprised of 70,000 booths that are comprised of large amounts of plastic.
The imagery shown above in India highlights the process of people separating plastic for recycling, this shows that there is a process to which India is trying to recycle more - however is still one of the largest contributors to plastic waste. This also goes to shows that the LEDC regions of the world lack the facilities and technology to recycle quickly.
This video on the uprising of plastic shows how although plastic is causing us to suffer now, when it was first introduced it was beneficial to us in the war. But as the video goes on it shows how the use of plastic was deemed as something expensive and impressive to own. The video highlights how San Fransisco noticed the dangers of plastic pollution and banned the use of plastic bags in its local shops to reduce wastage. There is the CASE STUDY of coca cola using harmful chemicals in their plastic bottles which was toxic for consumption.
“Let’s say you recycle 100 percent in all of North America and Europe,” says Ramani Narayan, a chemical engineering professor at Michigan State University who also works in his native India. “You still would not make a dent on the plastics released into the oceans. If you want to do something about this, you have to go there, to these countries, and deal with the mismanaged waste.”
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this highlights that it is not all about the ways in which our own countries use and misuse plastic, it't the fact that countries that our mismanaging waste are the huge cause of ocean pollution.
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When Greenpeace cleaned the Freedom Island beach, it posted a tally of the brand names of the sachets its volunteers had collected. Nestlé ranked first, Unilever second. Litterbugs aren’t the only ones at fault, says Greenpeace’s Abigail Aguilar:
“We believe that the ones producing and promoting the use of single-use plastics have a major role in the whole problem.”
A Unilever spokeswoman in Manila told me the company is developing a recyclable sachet.
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“Everyone wants a sexy answer,” he says. “The reality is, we need to just collect the trash.
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