The planet’s plastic pollution plague has been in the headlines, competing with climate change impacts for the top issue of the “Anthropocene”. Media coverage has raised the mainstream awareness of marine plastic pollution, and people everywhere are wondering what can be done to reduce the amount of plastic in the ocean.
We already use a travel mug, bring our cloth bags to the market, and throw our recycling in the blue bin. Is that enough? What more can we do to protect the ocean we love?
Join Laura Ludwig, director of the Center for Coastal Studies Marine Plastics & Debris Program, for a presentation and discussion on how plastic gets into the ocean and how local efforts can, surprisingly, make a global difference. Learn about new regional initiatives addressing plastic pollution and recycling, including fishing gear recovery; regulations on plastic bags, straws, bottles, balloons and polystyrene; infrastructure and transportation challenges; and recycling, composting and waste diversion programs that are working.
Laura Ludwig directs projects at the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown which focus on derelict fishing gear (DFG) and marine plastic pollution. She initiated the Marine Debris & Plastics Program in 2012, featuring an interdisciplinary approach to investigate microplastics, beach debris, abandoned, lost or discarded fishing gear, and other plastics initiatives.