Goodbye for now

Today, it’s time. It’s the moment I have to sadly say goodbye and bring this blog to a close. This blog has been an enjoyable and staple part of my life for the last few months. I hope my readers have enjoyed it and hopefully learnt one or two things about plastics, as I know I have. When I first started this blog, I was completely unaware of the complex production trends and environmental issues posed from plastics. I was quite naïve considering the scale and consumption of plastic within our everyday life, which I explored during my initial first posts. Over time, I've come to understand how plastics, including both macro-plastics and micro-plastics are negatively impacting our marine environment. As the blog progressed, I recognised the infancy of the preliminary research involving our understanding of micro-plastics within our marine and terrestrial environments. The wider repercussions from our single-use plastic society are still widely unknown, with each passing week more revelations coming to light.

Figure 1: Bali's Kuta beach inundated with plastic debris. Source: The Telegraph.

Nevertheless, the emergence of innovative solutions towards solving the plastic endemic, I believe, provides hope for a sustainable future. The application of bioplastics materials within our society and economy is one solution; the solution creates compostable and biodegradable materials which help mitigate the risk of future ingestion by marine species, including green turtles. Moreover, following the success of the plastic bag levy both here in the UK and elsewhere in Europe, the pathway of taxation appears another equally justified solution. However, taxation presents concerns regarding inequality and ‘economic injustice of plastic’ from taxing the poorest in our society.

Figure 2: Black-footed albatross captured ingesting plastic debris. Source: National Geographic.

I welcome the emergence of concerns from environmentalists and the UK Government to finally explore new solutions regarding the plastic crisis. Nevertheless, from last week the latest worrying plastic pollutions trends for 2018 were estimated, presenting a worrying picture of the future. I urge the UK Government to consider bold and radical solutions to limit plastic pollution and deter us from the path of disposability, as to reduce the dangerous environmental implications from a future plastic world.