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- Nicholas Mallos: That's a fantastic question and it's one that gets tossed a lot around and in many ways
creates a lot of ambiguity around the issue. Marine debris has largely been around for
the past three decades, starting back in 1986 when ocean services started the international
coastal cleanup as well as their work on the issue of marine debris in the past decades.
Marine debris really addresses all anthropogenic derived debris or trash that is in our ocean
and washes on to our shores. Much of that is plastic and over the years we have seen
that the majority of marine debris is in fact made of plastic. There are other forms of
marine debris out there as well that too pose their own type of threats. Pressure treated
lumber, large fishing nets that may not be synthetic in nature and other forms of debris.
So, marine debris certainly has a place in our vernacular. But over the years, looking
at international coastal cleanup data (findings of Charlie Moore's initial expedition and
subsequent expeditions in the North Pacific gyres around the world), we have seen that
the majority of the items out there are plastic. When we start looking at the implications
of those debris items, we see that those that pose the greatest threat both individual marine
organism as well as large scale marine ecosystems are plastics.
Particularly as we think about the term plastic pollution, I think it is such a good one as
it is not just talking about plastic in ocean. It is also talking about the entire life cycle
of plastic from when it is first made from individual resin pellets, all the way down
through the pathways until it becomes plastic pollution in the ocean. Along the entire vector
from initial manufacturing to end of life in the ocean (if it ends up there) there are
myriad ways where those plastic items can be disrupted for us to address this issue.
I do think as our times have evolved, plastic pollution is certainly becoming a more common
term. But that does not mean we disregard other forms of marine debris which are out
there and pose their own respective challenges.
- Bill Francis: Well, that's a complicated issue and there
issues. Plastic in itself is not bad, but plastic pollution is bad. There are certain
uses of plastic that we should not be doing as human beings. When you consider the marine
debris issue, if you focus on that, it is an international issue; no one owns the oceans
but everyone has a part in contributing to their health and well being. So it's a very
complicated issue.
- Beth Terry: When I think of plastic pollution, I think
toxic and pollutes. Starting from its manufacturing, where water and air are polluted from the
chemicals in plastics to chemicals that can leach out of plastics that we use. Those are
forms of plastic pollution as well. I know a lot of us are focusing on ocean but for
me, it's important to reduce the amount of plastic that we're using in the first place
because of all the different types of plastic pollution and not ocean plastic pollution
alone.