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Folks: I am so happy to share a piece I've written for @ClientEarth about a massive issue that was truly a wild, wild ride to dive deep into.
It's about the intertwined, twisty and fascinating relationship between the climate and plastic crises:
https://www.clientearth.org/latest/latest-updates/stories/plastics-a-carbon-copy-of-the-climate-crisis/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=plastics-plan-b
It's about the intertwined, twisty and fascinating relationship between the climate and plastic crises:
https://www.clientearth.org/latest/latest-updates/stories/plastics-a-carbon-copy-of-the-climate-crisis/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=plastics-plan-b
Plastics are produced using - almost entirely - by-products from fossil fuel extraction. Both crises have a common ancestor: the fossil fuel industry. Its size, its influence, its sheer staying power define both.
https://www.clientearth.org/latest/latest-updates/stories/plastics-a-carbon-copy-of-the-climate-crisis/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=plastics-plan-b
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Schematic-representation-of-a-generic-plastic-product-lifecycle-with-points-of-sampling_fig1_319378940
https://www.clientearth.org/latest/latest-updates/stories/plastics-a-carbon-copy-of-the-climate-crisis/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=plastics-plan-b
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Schematic-representation-of-a-generic-plastic-product-lifecycle-with-points-of-sampling_fig1_319378940
Like carbon emissions, the problem of plastics is accumulation. It's a growing flow of harmful stuff, building up in a finite space. Most of that flow comes from packaging that's used once and discarded.
https://www.clientearth.org/latest/latest-updates/stories/plastics-a-carbon-copy-of-the-climate-crisis/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=plastics-plan-b
https://www.clientearth.org/latest/latest-updates/stories/plastics-a-carbon-copy-of-the-climate-crisis/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=plastics-plan-b
As I learned more and more about this, I discovered how closely the two crises rhyme - thanks mostly, of course, to the common ancestor of the fossil fuel industry. https://www.clientearth.org/latest/latest-updates/stories/plastics-a-carbon-copy-of-the-climate-crisis/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=plastics-plan-b
Here's what struck me the most: recycling, which helps a bit, has been sold as the over-arching technofix to the FF industry's blatant over-production (drive by the shale gas boom in the US).
Estimates vary but the truth is clear: only a tiny fraction of plastic is recycled.
Estimates vary but the truth is clear: only a tiny fraction of plastic is recycled.
Guess which other industry promises to capture most of the 'waste' it creates, but captures almost none? And still engages in a massive marketing mission to pretend that it can capture all of it?
https://www.clientearth.org/latest/latest-updates/stories/plastics-a-carbon-copy-of-the-climate-crisis/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=plastics-plan-b
https://www.clientearth.org/latest/latest-updates/stories/plastics-a-carbon-copy-of-the-climate-crisis/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=plastics-plan-b
Part of my research involved watching this top @frontlinepbs documentary. You know the little recycling symbol on plastic stuff? Yeah - it doesn't mean 'will be recycled' or even necessarily recyclable. It's just a number designating the resin type.
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/plastic-wars/
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/plastic-wars/
It struck me as a particularly brazen admission of the goal here: simulate reassurances, to disable any moral decision making in those of us who might want to do the right thing, but are hit with a tsunami of confusing symbology instead. https://www.clientearth.org/latest/latest-updates/stories/plastics-a-carbon-copy-of-the-climate-crisis/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=plastics-plan-b
These substances - greenhouse gases and plastic waste - accumulate in a way that impacts those least responsible for causing the problem, too. Waste flows between countries like carbon seeps around the world, and the impacts are devastating.
https://www.clientearth.org/latest/latest-updates/stories/plastics-a-carbon-copy-of-the-climate-crisis/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=plastics-plan-b
https://www.clientearth.org/latest/latest-updates/stories/plastics-a-carbon-copy-of-the-climate-crisis/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=plastics-plan-b
Want to know how to fix it? The answer lies in climate, too. You'll just have to read the piece, to find out 
https://www.clientearth.org/latest/latest-updates/stories/plastics-a-carbon-copy-of-the-climate-crisis/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=plastics-plan-b
https://www.clientearth.org/latest/latest-updates/stories/plastics-a-carbon-copy-of-the-climate-crisis/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=plastics-plan-b
Big, big thanks to my interviewees for giving up time: @dccmckay, on the cultural and social impacts of plastic waste, @ErikvanSebille, for info on ocean plastics, and @EirikLindebjerg from @WWFNorge on the array of potential solutions https://www.clientearth.org/latest/latest-updates/stories/plastics-a-carbon-copy-of-the-climate-crisis/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=plastics-plan-b
Also! Read the piece published on @ClientEarth about greenwashing. This is basically the main game of fossil industry delay at the moment, and this is a really brilliant summary of the situation: https://www.clientearth.org/latest/latest-updates/stories/greenwashing-the-tipping-point/ by @JheniOsman
https://www.clientearth.org/latest/latest-updates/stories/what-is-greenwashing-an-interview-with-sophie-marjanac/ w/ @SMarjanacCE
https://www.clientearth.org/latest/latest-updates/stories/what-is-greenwashing-an-interview-with-sophie-marjanac/ w/ @SMarjanacCE
I've been a fan of @ClientEarth for some time, but their successful campaign to get @bp_plc to stop greenwashing their ads was truly glorious. You should follow their work - it's impactful, and really just a thrill to watch --> https://twitter.com/KetanJ0/status/1256874935240273921
