Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/6065
LIVEMAGS.NET JANUARY>>10 35 Plastic Pollution Coalition: AN INTERVIEW WITH PLASTIC WASTE ACTIVIST AND ARTIST DIANNA COHEN GREEN SCENE EDITOR ANA ROTHWELL ana@rothwellpromotion.com The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is what has become of the vortex of ocean and air currents called the North Pacific Gyre. Scientists estimate it is two times the size of the United States and all plastic waste, large and small, which fragments into particles that never biodegrade. There are gyres in all 5 major oceans in the world. Poisoning marine wildlife, polluting oceans and destroying human health, the plastic drifts off land and is dumped off boats. "The Industry & NOAA call it 'marine debris,' but we call it 'plastic pollution' because that is what it is, says Dianna Cohen, one of the co- founders of Plastic Pollution Coalition along with Lisa Boyle, Esq., Manuel Maqueda and Daniella Russo. Cohen began her career as a visual artist and has been working with plastic for over 18 years. It was while making pieces with plastic bags that she realized: "I should be using canvas bags when I go to the market all the time. I don't need any more plastic bags." Plastic Pollution Coalition is an international alliance of scientists, surfers, artists, musicians, concerned citizens and environmental activists who pledge to refuse plastics as much as possible for the well being of the planet. The plastic problem is so pervasive, the founders of the Coalition felt compelled to create a portal for information, to educate and instruct people on plastic alternatives, and to raise awareness so that consumers can make informed and healthier choices and stop polluting our oceans at the same time. Tova: What is your inspiration for creating the Plastic Pollution Coalition? Dianna: As an artist who consistently works with plastic bags and other single use materials, I initially thought that I needed to get out to the Garbage Patch in the North Pacific Gyre, collect a bunch of this plastic pollution to make artwork and raise awareness. But the more I educated myself, read and spoke to Captain Charles Moore and scientist Sylvia Earle about how plastics travel to the gyre, I realized that I could walk the beach after a storm or high tide and pick up the same plastic that is out in the middle of the ocean. I also looked at Chris Jordon's incredible photographs from Midway Atoll in the North Pacific Ocean of albatross carcasses. Their ribcages are full of little bits of plastic: Bic lighters and razors, diapers, McDonald's stirrers, straws, birth control packaging, tons and tons of bottle caps…all kinds of plastics, anything you can imagine. The parent birds fly thousands of miles collecting colored bits of plastic mistaken for food to feed to their babies. And the babies die because they cannot digest it, but their stomachs are full. That's when you realize that we shouldn't just be concerned about plastic in the middle of the ocean, we should be concerned about the plastic at our supermarket, the plastic that is in our refrigerator and the plastic that is in our bodies, because we are poisoning ourselves with plastics. Writer>>TOvA mORRisON