Before saying goodbye at the stroke of a bell, 2018 left us with a great little surprise. The Urgent Spanish Foundation chose “microplastic” as word of the year. Beyond the curiosity that may result or the philological debate, the decision is a clear indicator that the proliferation of plastic waste worries us more and more. That’s right. Its production doubled between 2000 and 2019, a trend that goes hand in hand with the generation of waste, and much of it ends up in the oceans. According to Greenpeace there are between five and 50 trillion fragments scattered throughout the seas, not including beaches and the seabed. By 2050 they may outnumber the fish themselves.
Perhaps the best example of the problem—certainly the most graphic—are the plastic islands dotted around the oceans. Especially the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a huge glob of debris located in the North Pacific. For years we have seen it as a kind of “snitch”, an XXL-sized reminder of the punishment
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