Our Plastic Problem And How To Solve It

Our Plastic Problem and How to Solve It considers plastic's harms and offers a spectrum of public and private solutions.

Plastics have transformed every aspect of our lives. Yet the very properties that make them attractive--they are cheap to make, light, and durable--spell disaster when trash makes its way into the environment. Plastic Soup: An Atlas of Ocean Pollution is a beautifully-illustrated survey of the plastics clogging our seas, their impacts on wildlife and people around the world, and inspirational initiatives designed to tackle the problem. With striking photography and graphics, Plastic Soup brings plastic pollution to brilliant life for readers. According to some estimates, if we continue on our current path, the oceans will contain more plastic than fish by the year 2050. Created to inform and inspire readers, Plastic Soup is a critical tool in the fight to reverse this trend.

“Guides readers toward the road less consumptive, offering practical advice and moral support while making a convincing case that individual actions . . . do matter.” —Elizabeth Royte, author, Garbage Land and Bottlemania Like many people, Beth Terry didn’t think an individual could have much impact on the environment. But while laid up after surgery, she read an article about the staggering amount of plastic polluting the oceans, and decided then and there to kick her plastic habit. In Plastic-Free, she shows you how you can too, providing personal anecdotes, stats about the environmental and health problems related to plastic, and individual solutions and tips on how to limit your plastic footprint. Presenting both beginner and advanced steps, Terry includes handy checklists and tables for easy reference, ways to get involved in larger community actions, and profiles of individuals—Plastic-Free Heroes—who have gone beyond personal solutions to create change on a larger scale. Fully updated for the paperback edition, Plastic-Free also includes sections on letting go of eco-guilt, strategies for coping with overwhelming problems, and ways to relate to other people who aren’t as far along on the plastic-free path. Both a practical guide and the story of a personal journey from helplessness to empowerment, Plastic-Free is a must-read for those concerned about the ongoing health and happiness of themselves, their children, and the planet.

Look around you--plastic is everywhere! It's in your shoes, pens, toothbrush, car, toys, TV, water bottles, food packaging... It's almost impossible to get through one day without using it. And it's creating major problems for our world, our oceans, our animals and marine life, and ourselves. In The Plastic Problem, from the team that brought you 101 Small Ways to Save the World, you'll learn how to become a 'plastic patroller' instead of a plastic polluter by learning about the easy ways you can cut plastic out of your life. The simple actions found in this practical guide will help you protect our world and inspire your friends and family to do the same. Tips include: Pack a zero waste travel kit to help your family reduce its rubbish on trips Take better care of your clothes, swap items with friends, and get excited about hand-me-downs Switch your toothpaste for natural tooth powders and choose an electric, non-throwaway toothbrush Take your lunch to school in a reusable container and bring reusable cutlery Reduce the amount of things you buy, reuse what you have, and recycle what you no longer need Take reusable bags to the supermarket or with you when you go shopping Think twice about single-use bottled water and fruit juices As a future guardian of the planet, you can say no to plastic. Your actions, however small, can make a big difference every day. Are you up to the challenge? About Lonely Planet Kids: Lonely Planet Kids--an imprint of the world's leading travel authority Lonely Planet--published its first book in 2011. Over the past 45 years, Lonely Planet has grown a dedicated global community of travelers, many of whom are now sharing a passion for exploration with their children. Lonely Planet Kids educates and encourages young readers at home and in school to learn about the world with engaging books on culture, sociology, geography, nature, history, space and more.

"Human beings are an amazingly inventive species in creating technologies that have taken us far beyond planetary boundaries that constrain all other animals. Whether it's very powerful innovations like pesticides, antibiotics or combustion engines, we fail to consider the long-term ramifications of our enterprises in a world where everything is interconnected. Plastics are a classic example, created by chemists from complex molecules of life in fossil fuels, applied in so many useful ways but ignoring what happens when the products are discarded as waste on such a scale that we have a gargantuan problem. The story of plastic is a cautionary tale about every aspect of the way we are living in the Anthropocene." -- David Suzuki The shocking truth of plastic's impact on our planet -- and what we can do about it. The data is in and it's bad. We create and throw away too much plastic, and it is killing our planet. However, too many people have very little idea about just how far this problem reaches, and those who do know feel helpless with the enormity of the task at hand. To fill this void and provide some hope is Rachel Salt's simple and transformative book, The Plastic Problem. As a producer for the award-winning and wildly popular YouTube channel AsapSCIENCE, Salt is accustomed to taking big, complicated concepts and translating them into entertaining and easy-to-understand segments. She applies the same methodology to The Plastic Problem. The result is a critically important book that will change the lives of those who read it. Never before has the problem been presented in such an impactful way. Readers of any age will emerge from this book with a thorough understanding of the problem, its individual and global impacts, and -- most importantly -- hope for the future. In 18 bite-sized chapters, Salt walks readers through the invention and globalized creation of plastic, its impacts and uses in our day-today lives, and its importance to the larger global economy. She then examines the how and why of what makes plastic so harmful to our planet and, just in case there was any doubt, Salt reinforces this danger by providing chapters on the planet-choking results of our plastic habit -- including the fact that there is almost certainly, plastic floating inside each and every person in the world. Salt finishes this vital book with a message of hope. All is not lost. We can make changes -- both at home and on a global scale. Big changes are already happening. If you want to be an actor and help change the future, The Plastic Problem is the best place to start. "Plastic kills. Breaking our plastic addiction is a matter of survival for humans and it impacts every creature on Earth to the deepest part of the ocean. With clear, concise prose and illustrations, The Plastic Problem navigates a way through this plastic mess we've found ourselves in." -- Erich Hoyt, author of Encyclopedia of Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises, Orca: The Whale Called Killer and Creatures of the Deep; Research Fellow, Whale and Dolphin Conservation; Co-chair, IUCN Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force

This book is all about plastic. In this educational material you will find the facts about plastic, everything you need to know about our plastic problem, how it affects the environment and how we can preserve it. From our ocean pollution problem and information about it to possible solutions and recyclable plastics. This educative book will teach kids, young and old ecologists about how our actions impact on planet Earth and the big changes we can make with the little things we do. Did you happen to know that every single plastic toothbrush ever made still exists? Or that a floating mess of junk larger than the US is drifting in the Pacific Ocean? From toys to disposable bags, plastic has shaped the modern world. But after 100 years of our affectionate relationship, we are gradually discovering that it is not such a wholesome relationship. As Thomas Brown notes in this eye-opening book, we have reached a crisis moment. Plastics are derived from disappearing fossil fuels, leaching out hazardous substances, polluting environments and destroying ocean wildlife. We are drowning in this junk and we have to begin to make some hard-hitting decisions. Think, breathe, act brings this issue to life with brilliance for its readers. But it also conveys a sense of hope; although the scope of the threat is immense, so is the dedication of the people working to solve it. Think, breathe, acthighlights a multitude of interesting plastic waste reduction and public awareness-building campaigns, from alternative materials to social media zero-plastic cooking guides and huge plastic cleanup ocean nets.

Plastic pollution is one of the most damaging environmental issues we face today. And no one is more passionate about solving this problem and protecting our world than kids! This new title in the Get Started With STEM series gives young science enthusiasts all the information they need to investigate and do their part to help solve this problem now and for the future. Packed with facts, discussion topics, imaginative ideas for activities, experiments, and investigations, this book will have students eager to use their science skills and knowledge to tackle plastic pollution head on.

Plastic is everywhere - it's almost impossible to get through one day without using it, and it's creating major problems for our planet, wildlife and ourselves. In this guide, you'll discover 60 easy ways to cut plastic out of your life. Become a 'plastic patroller' instead of a plastic polluter and help protect our world.