Wrapping up 5IMDC, Honolulu, Hawaii
The 5th International Marine Debris Conference in Honolulu Hawaii just ended. We thank the United Nations Environment Programme for organizing the event, and for inviting PPC to represent thousands of people, and hundreds of organizations on four continents, who view plastic pollution as a growing and urgent problem for the ocean.
During five days of conference sessions, we noticed with growing concern the notable omission of the word “plastic” and “plastic pollution” from all conference materials.
More than half of the sessions were dedicated to topics directly related to plastic pollution – yet the words were absent from the official vocabulary of any organizer, any sponsor. On numerous occasions we brought up this issue, and our comments were met with support and approval from many of the attendees.
We brought up the issue of plastic during the working sessions on the Honolulu Commitment – the document that summarizes the basic agreement about concerns and future action between the attendees at the conference. After hours of deliberation, and with the support of Algalita and artist Pam Longobardi, we were able to add prominent text about the growing concern about plastic as a component of marine debris; highlighted the issue of endocrine disruptors; and called for prevention, and extended producer responsibility as key initiatives to end plastic pollution.
The Honolulu Commitment will be available soon for public review and comments, and we will share it with you.
We brought up the issue of plastic in Daniella’s plenary session talk. She clearly outlined our concern about hiding the urgency of the issue behind words that deliberately mask the greatest problem - plastic, and plastic pollution.
We brought up the issue of plastic during the sessions where Daniella and Dianna presented.
Yet despite all positive comments we received from the attendees, the final wrap-up of the conference did not include one single reference to the word plastic, or plastic pollution. Not surprising to find out that the wrap-up was organized and presented by a consultant paid by the American Chemistry Council!
How disappointing that UNEP would allow such an obvious conflict of interest!
A high point of the wrap-up event was the Kokua Foundation and their announcement of “Plastic Free Schools”, followed by Jack Johnson, who grabbed the hearts of everyone with his song that encouraged us to end the single-use plastic habit.
The conference offered a sobering view of what lies ahead: an industry that refuses to see themselves as a contributor to this major problem; international policy-makers who are careful not to offend any stakeholder; and an ocean drowning in plastic for which nobody feels responsible. A true tragedy of the commons.
Yet, we remain positive and strong. Our voices are heard. We are making a difference!
Please consider supporting us and this important work by making a donation to Plastic Pollution Coalition.
Daniella Russo and Dianna Cohen
We need options. What can we do if everything we buy comes wrapped in plastic or made of plastic? We are prisoners of our own fate…the executioners of the planet that sustains us. That may sound overly dramatic, but it is all too true. When I saw the trees trunks being trucked out of Alpharetta when I first moved here, I cried. I wrote an article that was given a whole half page in the AJC. No one! No one responded or made a single comment and the forests here are pretty much gone. The arborist in Alpharetta told me that I would feel better when I saw the replanting. No, I don’t feel better. A little landscaping does not make a forest. And the buildings full of plastic don’t make it beautiful…or healthy.
Thank you Dianna and Daniella for your efforts to ensure that the conference partners did not lose sight of the fact that plastic pollution generally comprises more than 75% of what people are referring to when they are describing marine debris or marine trash in our oceans. Being at the conference and witnessing both of you taking every opportunity to make sure that incorrect terminology did not confuse this message gives me hope that the worldwide problem of plastic pollution might get the serious attention that it deserves. Thanks again for the energy and determination you bring to this end.
For all that want to see Jack Johnson sing about single use plastic see the link below:
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150113128471854&saved
We have to make some changes. Start with your own life. You CAN reduce our plastic use! Its probably going to take a little pre-meditating! buy an aluminum bottle to refill with water. Buy a washable coffee cup, shop at local farmers markts! if you buy local then often th product doesnt have to be preserved and packaged to go long distances over periods of time. Dont put your produce in those little bags at the store! just wash em when u get home! Theres lots of LITTLE adjustments you can make in ur life, that add up to make a BIG difference!
[...] was kept out of official circulation, replaced by the euphemism “marine debris,” as the Plastic Pollution Coalition reports. “Almost all so-called ‘marine debris’ is plastic,” Moore told me. [...]