Plastic in the Ocean Display 2022
In keeping with our summer reading theme, Oceans of Possibilities, the library is hosting a display from the Surfrider Foundation New Hampshire Chapter in July. The Surfrider Foundation New Hampshire Chapter is a volunteer group working locally in the Seacoast to advance the Surfrider Foundation's mission to protect and enjoy the world's ocean, waves, and beaches for all people, through a powerful activist network. Through applied focus on beach access, clean water, climate change, coastal preservation, environmental justice, ocean protection and plastic pollution mitigation, Surfrider volunteers love the ocean and take action to protect it. The New Hampshire Chapter works to reduce the impacts of plastics in the marine environment by raising awareness about the dangers of plastic pollution and by advocating for policy and legislation to stop the production of single-use plastics.
Plastic Is All Around Us (and In Us!)
It's in our homes, offices, vehicles, yards, and playgrounds. We make and use it to package food, bottle products, bag produce, and construct dinnerware, utensils, toys, and more. Plastics have undoubtedly helped us to manufacture, package and ship goods more easily, however, plastics pose a significant threat to our planet as well.
Part of the problem is plastic itself. The very qualities that make it an adaptable and durable product to use, also make plastic an environmental nightmare. Since plastics don’t biodegrade and instead break down under exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays, they simply become smaller and smaller, eventually becoming microplastics. These microplastics get everywhere - they are in our air, water, and food - and are essentially impossible to clean up. Bottom line: with the exception of the small amount that has been incinerated (which is also problematic), virtually every piece of plastic that was ever made still exists today in some shape or form.
Most plastic pollution at sea starts out on land from overflowing landfills or as litter on beaches, streets and sidewalks. Rain flushes that plastic through a storm drain system, or directly sends it into creeks, streams and rivers that lead to the ocean. After plastics enter the marine environment, they slowly photodegrade into smaller pieces that marine life can mistake for food, sometimes with fatal results. Research groups report that ocean gyres - a system of circulating currents in an ocean - concentrate plastic pollution in five main areas of the world’s ocean, with alarming consequences, but simple local actions can help make an impact to solve this global issue.
