We all have seen in the media this horrible agglomeration of floating bottles and plastic waste that invades oceans and beaches; it is sometimes described metaphorically as “plastic soup”. Nowadays, “Plastic soup is everywhere”, writes political scientist Michiel Roscam Abbing in Plastic Soup: An Atlas of Ocean of Pollution, and to explain this worrying phenomenon, he argues that “At first glance, plastics seemingly have environmental benefits when compared with other materials” (p. 8). But that simple reasoning comes whenever one only considers — in a short-term perspective — the relatively low material costs of production for plastic, without the long-term, environmental consequences of introducing plastics in countless products, including bags. Paradoxically, micro plastics such as cosmetics “are designed to end up as waste” (p. 14). And consumers, young and old, are a part of that never-ending circle, as explained in this sociological reasoning for explaining the institutional reasons (and logics) behind pollution: “When regulation falls short, competition drives manufacturers to add the cheapest raw material — plastic — and consumers become polluters without realizing it” (p. 15).
展开▼
