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Viewpoint – Ocean Plastic Pollution: a convenient but distracting truth?

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  • Stafford, Richard
  • Jones, Peter JS Dr

Abstract

Ocean plastic is a contemporary focal point of concern for the marine environment. However, we argue there are bigger issues to address, including climate change and overfishing. Plastic has become a focus in the media and public domains partly through the draw of simple lifestyle changes, such as reusable water bottles, and partly through the potential to provide ‘quick fix’ technological solutions to plastic pollution, such as large scale marine clean-up operations and new ‘biodegradable’ plastic substitutes. As such, ocean plastic can provide a convenient truth that distracts us from the need for more radical changes to our behavioural, political and economic systems, addressing which will help address larger marine environmental issues, as well as the cause of plastic pollution, i.e. over-consumption.

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  • Stafford, Richard & Jones, Peter JS Dr, 2019. "Viewpoint – Ocean Plastic Pollution: a convenient but distracting truth?," MarXiv fu5dp_v1, Center for Open Science.
    • Handle: RePEc:osf:marxiv:fu5dp_v1
    DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/fu5dp_v1
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