I was taken a back a bit, by Adam Vaughan‘s article ‘Human impact has pushed Earth into the Anthropocene’. Maybe it was the picture on the front, featuring all of this plastic floating around in the ocean. I was really thinking deeply about Vaughan’s article.
so much plastic in our waterways and oceans that microplastic particles are now virtually ubiquitous, and plastics will likely leave identifiable fossil records for future generations to discover
I get completely freaked out, totally wigged by plastic – to the point of obsession. I think its because during the mid 80s there was a massive public awareness drive to stop people from using plastic bags. I don’t know why it drifted out of public consciousness, people seem to be completely mindless consuming plastic. I mean, why the fuck do you need a plastic bag to carry home a plastic carton of milk? We are not a smart race.
When I was swimming at Williamstown beach on Sunday, I realised how deep we are as a civilisation into a environmental mess. I tried to swim away, pretending I didn’t see them. I had to dive down a bit holding my breath, to drag the plastic out from beneath the rocks and sand. I was push back and forth a bit by the waves. The plastic bags had become embedded into the landscape and buried beneath the sand.
Collected from Williamstown front beach January 2016
You can see the seaweed is starting to grow on the bags. If I hadn’t retrieved them, they would be there forever, part of our natural environment on a public beach, in suburban Melbourne.
MJ Wilson 