Can a Interiors Manufacturer Impact Global Food Security?
Many of us will be heading to the beach in June to relax and recharge. What many of us are unaware of is what is known as the Eastern Garbage Patch off the coast of California. This “Garbage Patch” is one of two massive trash gyers in the Pacific. Each of the two major gyers in the pacific are about the size of the state of Texas. What is a trash gyre you ask? Well, for starters; there are five major trash gyers in different oceans around the world. These are areas where all kinds of debris naturally accumulate due to current and wind patterns. ?They vary in sizes, shapes and compositions. The one that we know the most about is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch which is in an area between Hawaii and California. If you’re thinking big identifiable pieces of trash, think again. The majority of these trash patches are made up of tiny micro plastics which layer the surface waters of the ocean like a gumbo soup, with larger items intermittently trapped in different areas of the stew. Everything from laundry bottles to fishing gear, straws, barrels, Styrofoam, micro beads from your favorite face wash and wads of industrial plastic wrap all binding together like a giant iceberg of trash swirling around the ocean. Plastics are not organic material so they never really go away. They break down over and over and over again until they become smaller and smaller from sunlight and other environmental factors. Micro plastics are found on land and sea and are having a devastating impact on the natural food systems of the ocean. The average American is consuming from 70,0000 to 90,000 particles of micro plastic every year.? If you drink bottled water every day these numbers are likely higher. Micro plastics are being consistently found in humans and every animal species you can think of. Nano plastics are even being found in the bellies of mosquitos.
An additional hazard of these micro plastics is that they are porous and can act like a sponge, soaking up pollution. ?DDT is one confirmed type of pollution that’s been found in plastics floating in the ocean. Polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, are a second type. If you know anything about these two particular chemicals you are most likely aware that they are cumulative toxins that dangerous to humans and animals particularly reeking havoc on reproductive systems. Studies on the effects and potential risks of microplastics in soil ecosystems are also has shown that the combination and interaction of microplastics with contaminants they absorbed may affect soil health and function, and even migration along the food chain. The occurrence and impact of microplastic on the soil depend on the morphology, chemical components, and natural factors. There are clearly still large research gaps that exist in the quantification and estimation of regional emissions of microplastics in soil such as concentrations of microplastics which are known to be capable of disguising themselves as soil carbon storage.? Without focused research it is likely that micro plastics could, and will, have a devastating effect on national [and global] food security.
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Its easy to have a grim outlook and throw up our collective hands in despair. Awareness, first and foremost, is critical and we’ve never lived in a time where people were more aware of and concerned for their personal health and wellness.
There are industry manufactures that are taking this issue seriously and I’m please to work for one of them.? MillerKnoll quite rightly co-founded NextWave?Plastics, a consortium working to develop the first global network of ocean-bound plastic supply chains. By?integrating this transformed plastic into MillerKnoll’s products and processes, MillerKnoll is reducing?the volume of plastic waste,?little by little.? MillerKnoll’s best selling chairs such as Aeron, Sayl and Asari are currently being produced with ocean bound plastics.? Additionally, MillerKnoll is sourcing many new fabric materials that are being produced from ocean bound plastics. MillerKnoll is embracing this new way of looking at supply chain because, frankly; it’s the right thing to do. If you walk away from this article with only three takeaways… let it be this:
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1.???? Microplastics and their proliferation are a threat to our national and global food security.
2.???? The power of Awareness and Advocacy cannot be underestimated.
3.???? Make the choice for ethical supply chains. Your spend is often your greatest voice