Plastics have transformed every aspect of our lives. Yet the very properties that make them attractive—they are cheap to make, light, and durable—spell disaster when trash makes its way into the environment. Plastic Soup: An Atlas of Ocean Pollution is a beautifully-illustrated survey of the plastics clogging our seas, their impacts on wildlife and people around the world, and inspirational initiatives designed to tackle the problem. In Plastic Soup, Michiel Roscam Abbing of the Plastic Soup Foundation reveals the scope of the issue: plastic trash now lurks on every corner of the planet. With striking photography and graphics, Plastic Soup brings this challenge to brilliant life for readers. Yet it also sends a message of hope; although the scale of the problem is massive, so is the dedication of activists working to check it. Plastic Soup highlights a diverse array of projects to curb plastic waste and raise awareness, from plastic-free grocery stores to innovative laws and art installations. According to some estimates, if we continue on our current path, the oceans will contain more plastic than fish by the year 2050. Created to inform and inspire readers, Plastic Soup is a critical tool in the fight to reverse this trend.

In recent years there has been an increased realization that the casual disposal of wastes can lead to a deterioration in environmen tal quality with substantial impacts on society. The management of waste disposal practices must consider the various alternatives of discharging and decomposing wastes on land, in the atmosphere, and in the marine environment. Up until 1972 ocean dumping was used increasingly to dispose of sewage sludge, industrial wastes, and dredged material. In subsequent years regulations were developed to reduce and minimize ocean dumping. These regulations were prompted often by ignorance of the possible effects of waste disposal in the ocean rather than by knowledge that such ocean dumping was detrimen tal to the marine environment or to man. The relationship between waste disposal and the oceans can be viewed in either of two ways. One may want to assure that waste disposal procedures do not alter adversely the marine environment, or one may choose to utilize the ocean as a waste depository to reduce the burden placed on the con tinental ecosystem and on the atmosphere. From either perspective it is essential that there be an adequate base of technical information to assess the fate and effects of wastes introduced to the ocean. A series of original technical papers has been compiled in this book to present some of the recent results of research on industrial waste disposal in the ocean.

This report was prepared for the President of the United States by the Council of Environmental Quality. Location, quantities, composition, trends, pollution, and international aspects of ocean dumping are discussed. Also included are alternatives to dumping and legislative control. Recommendations are made dealing with policies, regulations, and further research.

This book offers a comprehensive study on the subject of ocean disposal of treated and untreated sewage waste. The early chapters cover the philosophy of outfall design, properties of sewage from developed towns and an overview of water quality regulations in New Zealand, Great Britain and the U.S. Alternative ways of satisfying these regulations are discussed. The book also provides information required to design outfall pipelines and diffusers.

Dumping of sewage sludge, dredge spoils, and toxic wastes in the coastal waters of New York and New Jersey is an old practice. In the 1970s ocean dumping became an important environmental issue, the subject of legislation and litigation, and of scientific inquiry. After a decade of study and debate, the basic issues of the environmental effects of ocean dumping and its impact on the ocean and surrounding coastal region remain unresolved. This nontechnical review of ocean dumping issues looks at the development of the metropolitan coastal region from a societal view, particularly in how we have used the waters of the New York Bight. What is being dumped and the current state of our knowledge on the environmental effects of ocean dumping are closely examined, as well as legislative and legal issues surrounding contemporary court actions.