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Exploration#1 - Extracting Micro-plastics out of consumer goods 

Brainstorming

A few weeks ago now I had a brainstorming session with a few fine classmates. A day before the brainstorm, I asked everybody to think about where, and how, plastic occurs in their routines. These are the outcomes. 

What are micro-plastics?

Micro-plastics are any piece of plastic under 5mm long.

Where do they come from?

Unlike the Great Pacific Garbage Patch where the problem is far away, 70% of micro-plastics originate on land. They accumulate along coasts near big towns and cities and eventually move with the ocean to the large plastic gyres around the world. 

They come in two main forms:

1. Original microplastics (plastics made under 5mm)

Industrial pellets (used to make plastic bags,etc)

Beads in exfoliants 

Jewellery beads

Clothing fibre from washing machines

2. Transformed micro-plastics (larger plastic items broken down into smaller pieces) 

any consumer packaging thrown or blown into the sea. 

How do they affect us?

Micro-plastics can be so small that they are invisible to the human eye. Marine life often eat these small pieces of plastic, which then eventually eaten by us. 

Although there are few scientific studies which document the affects on humans, it is widely acknowledged that these particles can move up the food chain and affect humans.

"I guess because micro-plastics are everywhere in quite high concentration, especially along the coast particularly close to cities and big towns it can easily affect the entire ecosystem by affecting all the compartments and at the end it will, it must,  effect humans.”

- Scientist at LEMAR institute Paris

Micro-plastics attract harmful pollutants in the sea, such DDCs, POPs, and metals and absorb them onto their surface. When they are ingested, stomach conditions help the toxins exude from the plastic and into the body. 

These toxins can easily multiply and increase the further one travels up the food chain. Effectively, the animal at the highest level of the food chain becomes most vulnerable (i.e. us). 

To me, this is the most scary impact of micro-plastics. These toxins can impact mental and physical behaviours of animals generations after the original ingestion. 

Where to go from here?

Much of this information has been surprising and worrying for me. I think that people can make behavioural changes to reduce the amount of plastic that comes into our lives and ends up in the ocean, but at present it demands a complication in daily life. 

- How can people easily change their plastic buying habits?

- Can choosing non-plastic over plastic be the easy/ sexy/ aspirational choice?

This is a table of all the desk research I conducted into Global Marine issues. The top layer lists the ways in which these problems affect the environment. The bottom layer lists how these environmental problems may affect humans. 

While these issues are all extremely interesting to me, I wanted to taper the focus by understanding how a global problem may effect western, well -off countries such as Denmark. Below is a list of the three I chose. 

1. Micro - plastics - this is already a global problem, which is not known about on the scale as the plastic gyres or global warming. How do Micro-plastics affect life in Copenhagen? What affects may they have on our futures? 

2. Industrial Sea Scape - As a result of climate change Copenhagen will become a warmer, more humid, country. There have been discussions about how Copenhageners may get a different source of protein in the form of seaweed. Imagine, a seascape which includes farms of seaweed, fish farms, and more. How would the relationship people have to the sea change? What kind of tools may one need to farm seaweed? 

3. Sea Level Rise - Sea level rise will have a drastic impact on climate in Copenhagen. Systematic changes are being handled by the Danish Government in a 20 year official plan with predictions into 2100. However, what will change for the city dweller? How may people adapt to living in a city with severe rainfall on a regular basis? How may people's relationship to rain change in the future? 

This week I am tracking how much water I am using. 

A couple of days ago I buried my head in articles on the internet to understand more about the term "biodiversity" and what this means for humans.

Biodiversity is a term used to describe the variety of living things on earth. 

"Biological diversity encompasses microorganism, plants, animals and ecosystems such as coral reefs, forests, rainforests, deserts etc."

                       As we expand our cities and grow as a global population we need to create methods of fuelling all those houses, and feeding all those grumbly bellies. The methods of doing so have been extremely beneficial for us, but has had draw-backs for the plant and animal kingdom. 

These draw-backs have been:

Habitat destruction

Introduction of new plant and animal species to different areas 

Excessive hunting

Climate change

Over Population. 

What surprised me was that as a result of this it is estimated that 140,000 species a year are becoming extinct. At present, 1/3 of all known species are threatened with extinction and by 2050 30% of all species are predicted to be extinct. 

What is the impact for us?

A lot of human food comes from a very small amount of plant and animal species so these will probably always be cared for. The problem of continuing to destroy habitats and expand cities boarders in the way we are doing now is that we could be making extinct something that could help us solve a problem in the future. 

Diversification of crops makes them stronger and makes recreational activities more enjoyable for us. I think everyone can remember a time when they saw an animal they never knew existed on the discovery channel and felt a mix of excitement and astonishment. Humans too find pleasure in some things being unknown. 

Questions:

- What will the role of nature be in the future?

- will the plants and animals exist be only for human use?

- will all nature have to be profitable?