Paper short abstract:

Plastic scientists point on rubber tiers as a main sources of micro-plastics. I work with scientists on ways to stopping plastics at the source, and collecting it from water. Moreover, I work and dive with divers that collect tiers from water. This talk will link the work of scientists and divers.

Paper long abstract:

Micro-plastics is on top of the political agenda and ‘we’ regularly hear voices telling us that these tiny pieces of plastics already enters the human body via the food we eat and the water we drink. With this the main question seem to be: How to stop more micro-plastics entering nature and in extension humans (without stop using plastics, of course..)? Plastic scientists have pointed towards rubber tiers as one of the main sources of micro-plastics, and an extra toxic type on that. When tiers break down into micro pieces they spread and leak toxins in the surrounding water – and are small enough to enter the food chain. In my research I have worked with scientists on different ways to address the micro-plastic issue, both looking at stopping plastics at the source and collecting it from water when already ‘micro’. Moreover, I have worked – and dived – together with scuba trash-divers that collect rubber tiers from the water before they break into smaller particles. Both groups work to curb the plastic issue – my examples focus on the Baltic Sea although the work and the issue are global in scope. This talk will address the concern of plastic waters linking the work of plastic scientists and scuba divers. Theoretically I depart from environmental anthropology and political ecology, outlining the political and ‘cultural’ contexts these individuals work within.