From a dead whale found with
to small shrimp-like amphipods
eating microplastics deep in the Mariana Trench,
An estimated eight million metric tons
of plastics enter our oceans ever year.
This problem feels overwhelming.
But, at the same time, I know we have to figure this out.
To find out, I learn about plastic pollution firsthand
at a beach cleanup.
And later, I talk to the founder of Parley for the Oceans
to understand how industry is rethinking plastic.
I'm Lucy Biggers, and this is One Small Step.
Marine plastic pollution is comprised
of single-use items, like soda bottles,
straws, plastic bags, and commercial fishing nets and lines.
The problem is that plastic doesn't naturally break down.
Instead, it breaks up into smaller
and smaller microplastics.
It's estimated there are trillions
of plastic particles in the ocean.
This is alarming because animals
are mistaking plastics for food.
An estimated 90% of seabirds have plastic in their stomachs.
And there's a chance we're eating it, too.
One scientist at Columbia University found microplastics
in the gut of shrimp she bought at a fish market.
I've decided to attend a Surf Rider beach cleanup
so I can better understand the connection
between litter and marine plastic.
But before we get started, I'm gonna talk
to Mike Castellano who organized the event.
So tell me about Surfrider. What is your organization?
So the Surf Rider Foundation is a national nonprofit.
We pretty much are based on clean oceans, clean beaches,
public access, healthy beaches, healthy ecosystems.
And why is plastic pollution such a big part
of the clean oceans initiative?
Obviously,
We're ingesting it.
It's breaking down in the water,
- And why are beach cleanups important?
- It's to raise awareness, which is number one.
You get people out, and you get to experience it firsthand,
see how bad the problem is.
And then number two is we collect data.
We can use specific bag data from a beach
and say, hey, we collected this many bags last year.
And this is
why you need to get rid of it.
And so if you bring facts to the table, things happen.
The one small step that people can take
is to focus on minimizing your plastic use.
This is what they find in fish in their stomachs
and birds' stomachs.
You're not gonna find a water bottle in there,
but you will find a piece of plastic
or maybe even a bottle cap.
But this is the stuff that gets eaten,
and this is the stuff that ultimately
will make it to your dinner plate.
It gets inside the stomach of a fish.
That's crazy.
And this is what I mean.
You see things--
- [Lucy] Is this it?
This is plastic, too.
- Yeah, so we just walked over it, too; it's crazy.
- It blends in. - Yeah, exactly.
You bat an eye to it because you're like, oh,
and that's what's scary about these styrofoam,
is styrofoam resembles broken seashells.
So it's very hard to decipher between the two.
- So it seems like most of it is plastic.
- Yep.
Plastic is in everything.
Everything is made with plastic,
so you have plastic lids, you have plastic wrappers,
everything you eat comes in plastic.
- Yeah.
- Everything you get to drink at restaurants comes
with plastic straws.
Everything that you drink out of comes with plastic lids,
plastic caps, and plastic rings and plastic everything.
So this is another thing that I feel
like people can do easily.
You can ban the intentional release of balloons.
So this is like somebody released this at a party somewhere,
and it made its way here.
Where else is it gonna end up?
- So now is all this just gonna go to the dump?
- So this would go to a reclamation center
where they'll do their best to get rid
of what they can.
But if it has dirt on it, if it has food on it,
it's, again, it's not recyclable.
And so to the dump it'll go.
- [Lucy] It's surprising that,
even at a beach that appears spotless,
there are small pieces of plastic everywhere.
To solve the world's plastic problem,
we need more than small steps.
We need big thinkers innovating to find solutions.
That's why I'm excited to talk to Cyrill Gutsch.
He's the founder of Parley for the Oceans.
Their entire mission as a company
is to get industry to rethink plastic.
They've collaborated with big companies
like Adidas, Corona, and American Express.
Why did you choose to go the route
of really targeting these big companies
and getting them to change?
- I felt that environmentalism in its old form
of throwing shame and blame was not getting us fast enough
to where we need to be.
So the industry is really the problem.
- Right.
- But if you want to change them,
the best thing you can do is pick one
in each sector
Go really deep with them, change everything,
and define a new standard.
All the other guys have to follow.
- And they already are.
And so you've worked with many companies
to make this change, so how is that going,
and what have you guys accomplished?
- The first one was the hardest to get; that was Adidas.
Took us two years.
They committed to a 10-year agreement with us.
So the first step was they phased out plastic
wherever they could, where it's easy for them,
plastic bags, all the straws, bottles,
whatever they could find.
But then they would phase out micro beads
out of their body care products.
But now, they committed to phase out virgin plastic,
that means new plastic, out of their products by 2024,
converting completely to recycling.
And the big part of that will be Parley ocean plastic.
- So what's this?
- That was the first shoe we ever made with Adidas.
- So all of the plastic on here is retrieved ocean plastic,
or most of it?
- The whole upper is made
from marine plastic debris. - Wow.
- The green is coming from fishnets,
and the white is coming from bottles
that be retrieved in The Maldives.
- And how does that work?
Are you collecting it, and then you're processing it?
- So there are different ways of collecting plastic.
- Okay.
- Some is coming from the beaches.
Others is coming from the high seas,
like fishing nets, discarded fishnet,
or fishing net that our partner organizations,
like Sea Shepherd, confiscate.
We turn all that plastic trash that find out there
into new material, into yarn, into fabric.
And then it finds its way into new product..
And a product made from Parley ocean plastic
is contributing to our movement.
It's supporting us, it's funding us,
and that was the whole idea, that we're turning this trash
into a value that allows us to fuel our movement.
- So I was always taught reduce, reuse, recycle.
Do you think that that system is still great
for what we're going through right now?
- I think the three Rs are a big hoax. (chuckles)
They pretty much say the material is okay.
We're not using it right.
- Got it.
- The truth is the material is not okay; plastic is toxic.
And our answer is a new strategy.
It's called AIR: avoid plastic,
intercept plastic wherever you can
and use it instead of making more new plastic,
and the R, redesign the material, redesign products.
And of course, the plastic industry
doesn't love that strategy because they invested a lot
of money in all these facilities.
And they wanna keep this technology
in place as long as they can.
So the best you can do is using your voice
and sending a super strong signal saying I want out.
I don't want these products anymore.
And that is what we believe has the strongest power
at this point is people speaking out
for what they want and what they don't want.
They don't wanna be lied to anymore.
- It was so inspiring to talk to Cyrill
and really understand and see his vision
for how industry and creatives
can solve this marine plastic pollution problem
and understanding that we can all be empowered
if we just take action.
- The one small step I recommend to take
is ban the plastic bottle out of your life
and pick a reusable bottle and make that your personal flag
and fly that flag with pride.
- I love that.
I already do it, so check.
I'm eliminating plastic by using a reusable water bottle.
What are you doing to fight marine plastic pollution?
Let us know in the comments.
And if you like this episode, please share it.
See you soon!