According to many environmental experts, plastics are everywhere in our oceans and on land globally.
Students and faculty alike gathered on Nov. 30 at the second-to-last Honors Colloquium of the year to discuss bioplastics and their effect on our oceans.
The discussion featured four speakers who work directly in the field, and aimed to give listeners a glimmer of hope when it comes to plastic pollution.
All four speakers acknowledged bioplastics are a large issue as it pertains to pollution, and there is a large need for concern. Kara Lavender Law, a research professor of oceanography at the Sea Education Association, described the state of bioplastics today as a “wicked challenge.”
“We need to acknowledge that we are dependent on plastic and that it is really hard to cut it out of our lives,” Lavender Law said. “At the same time, there is too much plastic in our environment and we need to figure a way to reconcile both.”
Eva Touhey is a former graduate student at the University of Rhode Island and current program manager at Clean Ocean Access, an environmental nonprofit located in Middletown, Rhode Island. She had a similar sentiment, and feels as though we are almost at the point of no return when it comes to bioplastics.
“We are now at the point where we don’t ask, ‘is plastic here or there?’” Touhey said. “The answer is always yes.”
The panelists also discussed the difficulties of conducting research on bioplastics and figuring out just how much these bioplastics are affecting us, even considering that they could be in our bloodstream. Michaela Cashman, a biologist at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Atlantic Coastal Environmental Sciences Division in Narragansett, said the plastics are just too small to measure and that they could be in all of our bodies.
Plastics could be everywhere and contaminate our oceans and communities alike according to Anna Robuck, an environmental chemist and oceanographer studying chemical and plastic pollution in natural and human environments. Robuck said that this plastic problem is a local one as much as it is a global one.
“We see the videos of penguins with plastic on them and plastics in the ocean, but it is important that we know that this is also going on right in our communities,” Robuck said. “We have to deal with this at the local level if we want to make any change at the global level.”
While Robuck made clear the lack of research and large amount of pollution is deeply concerning, all four panelists made it clear that this is a problem that can be solved through advocacy and awareness. Touhey said that if we all do our part with our own plastics, people can turn this bioplastic epidemic around and create a safe environment in our communities and the ocean.
“I always like to think positively,” Touhey said. “It starts from the bottom with us, and if we all make sure we are recycling correctly, we can start to make a difference and save our oceans.”
This meeting marked the eighth Honors Colloquium meeting in the fall semester, with the next and final event occurring next Tuesday, Dec. 6 at 7 p.m.