The War On Plastic Can Be Won
This is the first of my atomic essays for Ship30for30, which looks at challenges the world is facing in the next 30 years. The first one is on overcoming the plastic problem.
Plastic is everywhere. It's in the ocean, our forests and scattered across our streets.
As bad as the situation is, it's far from an unsolvable problem. It's not all doom and gloom.
Humans have a tendency to get ourselves into tricky situations but we also have the ability and ingenuity to get ourselves out of those tight spots.
Real progress is being made on the war on plastic. Take the example of the Ocean Cleanup.
This is a non-profit organisation with a clear aim. It may seem like a lofty goal, but they're making serious progress.
Their aim is to cleanup 90% of floating plastic pollution in oceans and rivers. They're not there yet, but they have cleaned up the equivalent of 250,000 football fields from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch!
This is an example of how collective action and innovation can combine to overcome seemingly impossible problems.
Today, more and more people are waking up to the problems rampant plastic production cause. Campaigns for a plastic-free world are popping up across the world. As is the pressure on governments and companies to take action.
This is a huge positive. It's an indication we're moving in the right direction. As difficult as the situation is, it would be much worse if no one was shining a light on it.
Will we see a plastic-free planet in our lifetimes? It's hard to say. The scale of the challenge is huge.
But that doesn't mean it can't be overcome. If human history tells us anything, it's that when faced with impossible odds, we have a habit of rising to the challenge.