Synopses & Reviews
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Silent Spring for our era, this eloquent, urgent, fascinating book reveals how just 50 years of swift and dangerous oceanic change threatens the very existence of life on Earth. Legendary marine scientist Sylvia Earle portrays a planet teetering on the brink of irreversible environmental crisis.
In recent decades weve learned more about the ocean than in all previous human history combined. But, even as our knowledge has exploded, so too has our power to upset the delicate balance of this complex organism. Modern overexploitation has driven many species to the verge of extinction, from tiny but indispensable biota to magnificent creatures like tuna, swordfish, and great whales. Since the mid-20th century about half our coral reefs have died or suffered sharp decline; hundreds of oxygen-deprived "dead zones" blight our coastal waters; and toxic pollutants afflict every level of the food chain.
Fortunately, there is reason for hope, but what we door fail to doin the next ten years may well resonate for the next ten thousand. The ultimate goal, Earle argues passionately and persuasively, is to find responsible, renewable strategies that safeguard the natural systems that sustain us. The first step is to understand and act upon the wise message of this accessible, insightful, and compelling book.
Synopsis
This eloquent, urgent, fascinating book reveals how just 50 years of swift and dangerous oceanic change threatens the very existence of life on Earth. Legendary marine scientist Earle portrays a planet teetering on the brink of irreversible environmental crisis.
Synopsis
A vast amount of plastic waste - twice the size of the United States - is floating in the Pacific Ocean. Welcome to the Great Pacific Garbage Path: the Plastic Soup. Plastic is an incredible material we can't do without, but it also creates the biggest pollution problem imaginable. This is something Jesse Goossens discovers during her travels and conversations across the United States and Europe. Her blogs and interviews are shocking, fascinating and dismaying. In this full-color book, she uncovers the effects of plastic waste on our health and on the environment, not only in the Pacific Ocean, but everywhere on earth.
Synopsis
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Jesse Goossens\\\' work includes travel novels, a detective novel, works on theatre, a young adult novel and several interview collections on topics of social justice. She also worked for a considerable time as a radio host and cultural journalist, and acted and sang for ten years in a small theatre company. Her work is characterized by a fervent search for what moves people - their passions, their motivations, their lives. For her book, Plastic Soup, Jesse traveled to the United States and several European countries to interview people who are involved with the issue of plastic waste: from Captain Moore - the discoverer of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch - to recyclers, from representatives of the plastic industry to delegates of environmental organizations, and from the Dutch Secretary for Environment to the director of UNEP New York. During her travels Jesse kept a blog (www.plasticsoep.nl and www.plasticsoup.org), entries for which are in Plastic Soup.
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About the Author
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"Jesse Goossens\\\' important book dramatically illustrates the effect we have had...We need to understand that we are part of a grand ecosystem which we share with all other life on Earth.
From the Preface- H R H Princess Irene\''
Table of Contents
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Interview: Captain Charles Moore-discoverer of the plastic soup- A plastic graveyard in the ocean 14
Blog: THE BEGINNING 26
Interview: Jackie Caddick-Liverpool Water Witch- on clenaing up waste from the water- A little magic and a whole lot of work 28
Blog: "YOU CAN UNDERSTAND IT, ONCE YOU GET IT" 32
Interview: Rinus van den Berg - DSM- on the magic of plastic- Plastic? Fantastic! 34
Blog: A GREEN POINT 38
Interview: Nortbert Völl & Michael Heyde - Duales System Deutschland - over de kringloop van verpakkingsmateriaal, Der Gurne Punkt- Waste is not a problem 40
Blog: THE LAW OF THE SEA 46
Interview: Peter Prows - lawyer - on who should clean up the plastic soup - Nobody is responsible -so we all are 48
Blog: THE OCEAN AS MONUMENT 52
Interview: Rudolph Eilander - architect - on a plastic island in the plastic soup -Not an illusion but a dream 54
Blog: WALKING ON WATER 58
Interview: Michael Biddle - MBA Polymers - on plastic recycling - Plastic becomes...plastic 60
Blog: A COLORFUL PLAN 66
Interview: Jay Golden - Gorilla in the Greenhouse - on the Internet as a means of raising awareness- Not finger-pointing, but inspiring 68
Blog: PIMP IT UP! 72
Interview: Ross Mirkarimi - Superivisor District 5 San Francisco - on the ban of plastic bags - Something small with big consequences 74
Blog: ANGELS 78
Interview: Hidde van Kersen - Waddenvereniging - on plastic pollution in the Wadden sea - Nature Can\\\'t stand up for herself, wo we do it for her 80
Blog: A GRAND VIEW 84
Interview: Jack O\\\'Neill & Dan Haifley - O\\\'Neill Sea Odyssey - on educating kids- At sea everyone is equal 86
Blog: BACK ON EARTH 90
Interview: John Bouterse - Envosmart - on plastic recycling - Plastic becomes...diesel 92
Blog: ROAD TRIP 96
Interview: Marcus Eriksen & Anna Cummins - Algalita & Bring your Own - on the struggle against plastic waste - Never give up hope 98
Blog: PLASTIC MAFIA 108
Interview: Anthony Zolezzi - entrepreneur-activist - on cooperation with the plastics industry - A worldwide embrace 110
Blog: LOSER 118
Interview: Sarah Abramson - Heal the Bay - on the need for pressure groups - There\\\'s no simple solution 120
Blog: SICK OF PLASTIC 126
Interview: Jacques Joosten - DPI - on the versatility of plastic - We are only at the beginning 128
Blog: ON THE DAY OBAMA BECAME PRESIDENT 134
Interview: Juanita Castaño - UNEP - on the role of the United Nations - Appeal to the plastics industry 136
Blog: FRESH SNOW 140
Interview: Albert de Hoop - KIMO - on plastic pollution in the North Sea - And I thought I knew something about the oceans.. 142
Blog: AN ACID SEA 148
Interview: Jacqueline Cramer - VROM - on legislation addressing plastic pollutin - Let\\\'s really go for it! 150
Blog: FIRST EXPLORATION 154
Interview: Michael Braungart - chemicus - Cradle to Cradle - We\\\'ve talked about problems for long enough now. It\\\'s time for solutions 160
Links 169
About ACT - A Convenient Truths 170
Photo rights 172
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