The root causes and effects of ocean plastic pollution (interview with emily penn of exxpedition)
Emily Penn (@missemilypenn) is an ocean advocate and skipper who's spent the last decade exploring plastic pollution from the tropics to the Arctic. She's on a mission to inspire and facilitate a community of changemakers through her project eXXpedition (@exxpedition_) and by training athletes and celebrities to be impactful advocates on ocean issues.
In this podcast episode, Emily sheds light on why people in developed countries can't just look at the primary sources of ocean plastic pollution stemming from ‘developing countries’ and feel that this absolves us of responsibility; the known and unknown health impacts of chronic exposure to plastic bits and their associated chemicals; and more.
To start, get a glimpse below into the conversation between Emily and Green Dreamer Podcast's host, Kamea Chayne.
“There’s no silver bullet to solve this plastics and toxics problem. We need a lot of solutions working from every angle of society.”
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This is a conversation on Green Dreamer with Kamea Chayne, a podcast and multimedia journal illuminating our paths towards ecological balance, intersectional sustainability, and true abundance and wellness for all. This preview has been edited for clarity. Subscribe to Green Dreamer Podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, or any podcast app to stay informed and updated on our latest episodes.
On why we have such low plastic recycling rates:
“When you recycle something, you can only take a very pure plastic to get a good quality product at the other end.
The main reason our recycling rates are so low is that we don't design products to be recycled; we design them to sell well on the shelves because they're a bright color, they squeeze nicely, or whatever it might be.
When you're designing products for that purpose, it means that they're un-recyclable at the other end. For me, that's the thing that needs to change.”
On engaging advocates to help solve the ocean plastic problem:
"The more time I spend out [on the oceans], the more I realize that firstly, the solutions start on land. But secondly, there's no silver bullet to solve this plastics and toxics problem—we need a lot of solutions working from every angle of society.
That's very much what we're trying to do, is to take a multidisciplinary group of people to see the problem firsthand to understand what's going on (and therefore be in a great position to solve it) and work collaboratively when they get home.”
On developing upstream solutions to combat plastic waste:
"The main opportunity we have to solve this problem is right here on our doorstep—it starts with preventing plastic and escaping waste management.
Even more than that, [solving the plastic waste problem] is about just not using plastic in the first place and finding better solutions in our society, whether it's innovative materials or systems, that remove the need to use plastic—particularly single-use plastic.
Single-use plastics are designed to be used once and thrown away, like food packaging or water bottles. [So, it's crucial that we] look for ways that we can still do what we want to do and go about our daily lives, but without creating all that waste.”
Final words of wisdom:
"Get out there, be curious, ask lots of questions, and give things a go.”
