Marine Litter and MARLISCO

posted on July 15, 2014

Many of us have been or will go on vacation soon and beach destinations around the globe will always be amongst the top destinations. But are we aware of the impact we have on sea ecosystems? The MARLISCO project aims to increase social awareness and co-responsibility.

marlisco

Marine environments are threatened by human activities. The european MARLISCO project aims to raise social awareness and co-reponsibility. Credits: http://instagram.com/scienceisherenow

From MARLISCO’s website to be found here:

WHY IS MARINE LITTER A PROBLEM?

Marine Litter – any persistent manufactured or processed solid material that is discarded, disposed or abandoned in the marine and coastal environment – is globally recognised as an emerging threat to the environment, human health and safety, as well as livelihoods.

The project is European and aims to promote responsibility amongst communities and decision-makers through a series of actions. For example, one important activity of MARLISCO is to inform and empower the society, specially in coastal countries; also, a collection of best practices concerning the use of the seas was prepared to be presented to the general public and the institutions interested; exhibitions, workshops, festivals and clean-ups are currently taking place around the European coastline.

Another interesting activity that has taken place was a video contest for youngsters. Students were asked to “collect their visions on the issue of marine litter” and make short videos on the subject. Soon I will be dedicating a post to the award winning videos, so stay in touch!

One major component of marine litter is plastic. Plastics are part of our everyday lives and it would be very difficult to stop using plastic products altogether. In laboratories, plastics are a big part of the waste generated – think about all the tubes, plates, flasks, containers, etc, that are used on a daily basis! So, the proper disposal of laboratory plastic consumables should be a concern of the scientific community. Keep following the blog because there will be more on this subject soon and please share your ideas on this subject in the comments section.

 

 

2 thoughts on “Marine Litter and MARLISCO

  1. battery life

    I’d like to thank you for the efforts you’ve put in penning
    this site. I really hope to view the same high-grade content from you
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    Reply
    1. scienceisherenow Post author

      Thanks a lot for that – And please let us know where we can find your blog!
      Right now, I am doing the research for my next post, which may again turn into a series: plastics in labs. I think it’s a really interesting subject and it definitely deserves some serious thinking from all of us involved. In the meantime, why don’t you also check our Photos: http://instagram.com/scienceisherenow.

      Reply

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