Read the Great Swamp Watershed Association blog to find out what’s going on in microplastic news in the Great Swamp watershed, Passaic River region, New Jersey, and the rest of the world. What are microplastics? Start here for the who, what, where, why, and hows of microplastics.
Arts
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- 2020 Wild and Scenic Film Festival – See which environmental short films were nominated for the 2020 Wild and Scenic Film Festival. Winner of the 2020 Festival was the beautiful and poignant foreign film, Honeyland (2019). Watch one of our faves here, “Sounds of Survival“.
- TEDx Talk on Microplastics: Knowns, Unkowns, and Actions, Dr. Sheila Hermami – Microplastic is the ultimate fate for nearly all plastic that escapes the solid waste management pipeline – and we can’t even see it. This talk describes the origin of microplastic, its pathways into the world’s oceans, and effective (and ineffective) ways to mitigate this type of pollution. It provides a framework by which we can start to understand and act to impact this environmental challeng
Cringeworthy
- Coca-Cola Refuses to Give up Plastic Bottles Saying Customers Still Want Them ,Vice.com – We know that when they say “Customers Still Want Them”, what they really mean is “Using Plastic is Cheap and Easy But We’ll Blame The Customers”. Leave them in 2019.
Fashion
- Think About What you Wear, Econotimes.com – More than synthetic fibers, chemical treatments like adding silver to textiles for their anti-bacterial properties leach into the water supply as a potent biocide. “What many consumers do not know is that silver is classified as a biocide; that is to say, a toxin. In the long run, the silver found in the water cycle can pose a significant threat to the wealth of life in the sediments of our lakes and seas. Sediment-dwelling creatures and organisms play a crucial role in the biological networks created by nature.”
Health & Wellness
- There Is Plastic In Your Fish, Forbes.com – It’s a fact by this point. There is plastic in your fish. Learn about how it gets there.
- Asking the Question: Are Microplastics a Macro Problem? OpenAccessGovernment.com – Humans have ingested microplastics for decades. Even if we ban microplastics, their ingestion will continue to increase. What are we to do?
Science & Tech
- Microplastics Raining Down in London, Engineering360 – Synthetic plastic polymers from textiles are so light that they can float through the air once they’ve been washed into the environment.
- UC Santa Cruz Student Invents Microplastics-Eating Turtle, SantaCruzSentinel.com – You read it right. This turtle eats microplastics, “poops” out organic, uh content.
- Slovenian Researchers Develop Ocean Cleaning Microplastic Filter Based on Jellyfish Mucus, Total Slovenia News
- Research: Effect of Prothioconazole on the Degradation of Microplastics Derived from Plastic Mulch, Journal of Environmental Pollution – Agricultural plastic mulch is a reality of modern farming practices. Agricultural practices are therefore one of the major sources of microplastic pollution in our environment. How do pesticides applied to soils interact with microplastic particles in the environment? A newly published study in the Journal of Environmental Pollution finds that there is emerging evidence that prothioconazole (a type of agricultural fungicide) effects speed of plastic degradation in plastic mulch.
Passaic River and Watershed News
- Town Square: Time to Take on Climate Change, MontclairLocal.news
Wetlands
- Florida Man Saves 20,000 Acres of Wetlands grist.org, A curveball from Florida Man. 20,000 Acres of wetlands are safe from destruction by oil drilling. A win for the environment and the people of Florida.
compiled by Kristina Necovska, GSWA wearer of many hats; Membership, GIS, and Social Media guru.
