Thicker Than Water : The Quest for Solutions to the Plastic Crisis

Much of what youve heard about plastic pollution may be wrong. Instead of a great island of trash, the infamous Great Pacific Garbage Patch is made up of manmade debris spread over hundreds of miles of seamore like a soup than a floating garbage dump. Recycling is more complicated than we weretaught:less thannine percentof the plastic we create is reused, and the majority ends up in the ocean. And plastic pollution isnt confined to the open ocean: its in much of the air we breathe and the food we eat. InThicker Than Water: The Quest for Solutions to the Plastic Crisis,journalistEricaCirinobrings readers on a globe-hopping journeyto meet the scientists and activiststellingthe real story of the plastic crisis.From the deck ofaplastic-huntingsailboatwith a disabled engine,tothelabsdoing cutting-edge research onmicroplasticsand the chemicals we ingest,Cirinopaints a full picture ofhowplastic pollutionisthreatening wildlife and human health.Thicker Than Waterreveals thatthe plastic crisisis also ataleof

environmental injustice, as poorer nations take in a larger share of the worlds trash,andmanufacturingchemicals threaten predominantly Black and low-income communities. There is some hope on the horizon, with new laws banning single-use items and technological innovations to replace plastic in our lives. ButCirinoshows that wecan only fix the problem if we face its full scope and begin to repair our throwaway culture.Thicker Than Wateris an eloquent callto reexaminethe systems churning out waves of plastic waste. [Publisher's text]