ANK on #Oceanplastic

I don't know exactly HOW many petitions I have signed over the past few years for governments to implement plastic recycling schemes, for CEOs of mega-polluters (yes - all you drinks companies who still favour disposable plastic bottles!) to support said recycle schemes. I talk to friends and strangers alike, I try to educate people and I even pick up plastic waste from the sea and the beaches around where I live. My little contribution to tackling a global problem.
And there is a lot of plastic to be picked up! A lot of it comes from the shipping, fishing, and yachting industry: Fragments of nets, plastic ropes, and the likes.
Unfortunately, a lot of people seem to find it acceptable, to discard of their rubbish (take away containers, plastic bottles, plastic bags, cans, and bottles) on a beach!
I live in a beautiful part of the world, and people come and visit for their holidays - because it is gorgeous, it is serene, and it widely unspoilt.
I cannot imagine, how people can be so calloused and discard of their waste so irresponsibly. And no - it is not 'gone with the wind' - many items I find are deliberately wedged somewhere between rocks, left in a carrier bag, weighed down with a rock, or are just simply 'left to rot', dropped on the spot, never to be considered again.

The implications are manifold: Plastic waste is harmful to aquatic life - animals ingest the stuff, get entangled in disused nets, ropes or fishing lines and suffer greatly.
Plastic waste litters beaches, estuaries and even the sea floor.
Being a scuba diver and open water swimmer, I know how much plastic waste there is floating around.

On a positive note:
The 5p charge for single-use plastic bags, which came into UK-wide force on the 5th of October 2015 saw an over 70% reduction in litter caused by plastic carrier bags.
A fantastic step in the right direction, but still a lot is left to be done.

The UK is still lacking a recycle scheme for plastic bottles, littering still seems to be socially acceptable, and little is done in the way of weaning the nation off disposable plastic like wrappers, food-packaging, and other short-lived, single-use plastic items - like straws.

Having done research into biodegradable plastics myself (really degradable - not just 'fall to tiny bits' plastic) I know, that technology and materials exist, to substitute non-degradable littering materials with biodegradable materials, which can easily applied in the packaging industry #polyhydroxyalkanoates, #bioplastic, #Biopol

Meanwhile keep to the motto:
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Here are the links to a few petitions and pledges, you could sign, if you like to help reduce or stop #Oceanplastic altogether. But there are many more out there - just google :-)

<38Degrees - Bottle deposit scheme>
<Greenpeace UK Plastic Pledge>
<Marine Conservation Society - Plastic Challenge>

Or get hands on by participating in a local beach cleanup.

And please discard of your waste responsibly.

P.S.
* Plastic waste is not only causing problems in the oceans.
* It is not only plastic waste, that causes problems in the oceans.

ANK on Observations

I like to observe.
I like to go out, sit in a lively place and watch people. Or sit quietly and watch nature.
Old habits die hard - I am a scientist: Observations and resulting deductions, ideas and conclusions are a vital part of the job description; as is curiosity and an ingrained 'need to know'.
Who? Why? What? Where? How? The five corners of my 'Scientist's Pentagram' also apply very much to writing.
When I write, I ask questions.
When I work in a lab, I ask questions.
Question marks meet me on a daily basis. I question things I don't understand - I question things I think I do understand - to dig deeper. There is always another layer, there is always somebody who knows more.
I like to discuss my work and other people's work. I am curious. I want to find out, what is happening.
Curiosity is a great driver for creativity: If I don't write, I don't know where the story is going to go. I enter a dialogue with my characters, and we discuss the plot and take it further.
Sometimes we fight, sometimes we are in agreement, but whatever happens, it is thought out, questioned, discussed.
The process of writing is putting observations into words, express what's happening. The better I observe, the more detail I can provide for the reader to 'get into the character'.
It may sound counter-intuitive, but the better I observe and write, the easier it becomes for the reader to make the transition from observer to participant. And this is exactly what any writer wants to achieve: to invite their readers into their book, to make it easy for them to step over the threshold from flipping the pages to living the story.
Not saying I am anywhere near that type of genius... but it is something I aspire to, and sometimes it is good enough to know, where you want to get to in order to walk in the right direction.