Erica Cirino is a science writer and artis t exploring the intersection of the human and nonhuman worlds. Her widely published photojournalistic works depict the numerous ways people connect to nature&mdash\;wild creatures in particular&mdash\;and shape planet Eart h.
\nAs plastic pollution piles up\, time to negotiate real solution s is running out\, and meanwhile plastics&rsquo\; impacts on the Earth and our health grows worse. Erica hopes to share important facts and immediat e action we can take to help our communities and protect our health from p lastics. This is a presentation on Erica's findings and current work commu nicating science-backed facts and solutions to the plastic pollution\, fea turing original reporting\, research\, and images from the frontlines of t he plastic crisis (including from the middle of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch).
\nMuch of what you&rsquo\;ve heard about plastic pollution m ay be wrong. Instead of a great island of trash\, the infamous Great Pacif ic Garbage Patch is made up of manmade debris spread over hundreds of mile s of sea&mdash\;more like a soup than a floating garbage dump. Recycling i s more complicated than we were taught: less than nine percent of the plas tic we create is reused\, and the majority ends up in the ocean. And plast ic pollution isn&rsquo\;t confined to the open ocean: it&rsquo\;s in much of the air we breathe and the food we eat. \;
\nIn \;Thicke r Than Water: The Quest for Solutions to the Plastic Crisis\, \;journa list Erica Cirino brings readers on a globe-hopping journey to meet the sc ientists and activists telling the real story of the plastic crisis. From the deck of a plastic-hunting sailboat with a disabled engine\, to the lab s doing cutting-edge research on microplastics and the chemicals we ingest \, Cirino paints a full picture of how plastic pollution is threatening wi ldlife and human health. Thicker Than Water reveals that the plastic crisi s is also a tale of environmental injustice\, as poorer nations take in a larger share of the world&rsquo\;s trash\, and manufacturing chemicals thr eaten predominantly Black and low-income communities. \;
\nTher e is some hope on the horizon\, with new laws banning single-use items and technological innovations to replace plastic in our lives. But Cirino sho ws that we can only fix the problem if we face its full scope and begin to repair our throwaway culture. Thicker Than Water is an eloquent call to r eexamine the systems churning out waves of plastic waste. \;
\nT his program is a partnership with Ashland Public Library.
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