The story I’m linking to today is a long one, but it bears reading and sharing far and wide. It presents a stark vision of our future that has little to do with climate change or air pollution or the litter that disfigures our countryside. It’s about what happens to all the stuff we throw away.
And, if you think recycling or beachcombing for washed up plastic artifacts is the answer, think again.
Way back in the early 1960s I submitted a short story to the tutor of a writing correspondence course that I never finished. The young man at the centre of the story believed he had a great future in plastics because plastics was the future. That prediction of mine has certainly come true: in the 50 years since, our plastic production has increased 600 fold, from less than 50 million tonnes annually to over 300 million.
And the frightening thing about plastic is that, unlike timber or natural fibres, it does not rot and become a biologically useful substance. It disintegrates into particles of ever decreasing size which are ingested by fish and animals, thereby entering our own food chain.
There is, it seems, nothing we can do about it. Our best hope is to stop producing it. Banning plastic bags is not the answer, recycling plastic bottles is not the answer. If we cannot learn to live without it we are doomed. If you don’t believe me, read the article. As I say, it is long; but it is beautifully written, wide ranging and contains many lessons about the horrors that homo sapiens is, at this stage of his development, inflicting upon his home planet.
Frank Parker's author site 
So true, Frank.
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Thanks for sharing, Rebecca
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Our lifestyles have consequences for our environment and our health. When we developed an indestructible product, we paid no heed to the fallout. The author’s prediction for the future of our species, drowning in our plastic waste, is dire:
“In the endgame, we’ll be a race of sexed-up tweener girls and sterile dudes with little dicks wandering baffled through a rubbish-filled world. Then those poor mismatched souls will grow old and die. End of story.”
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Nature’s revenge! That may be one way for it to end, not with a nuclear bang, but a tear-stained whimper of impotence and subdued rage.
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The story appeared in a weekly round up from ‘Medium’. I was surprised to see it is over 3 years old, but still so very relevant. Thank you Rosaliene and Sha’Tara for reading and commenting. I had an idea you would find it interesting.
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Frank, our mindless disposable of plastic products is of great concern.
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Finally got around to perusing the article- yes it’s long, but chock-full of information I had only an inkling of. I’ve seen first hand here, being a kayaker, what plastic pollution does to rivers, and I had known about the floating plastic islands of the Pacific, but this?
Quote: “Combined, the northern Pacific marine dumps have been estimated to be twice the size of the continental United States.”
When we stop to realize that the third largest country in the world covers an area 3.5 million square miles, 6 percent of the land mass of the planet and double that… we get a floating patch of deadly garbage 7 million square miles equal to 12 percent of the planet’s land mass.
Try to imagine what is happening to the oceanic eco-system as all sorts of marine life, of sea and air, feeds on this putrid mess. Try to imagine what’s in that fish you’re being served.
I remember a time not so long ago when it was stated that the oceans would be man’s last bread-basket.
As Bugs Bunny would say, “Where to now, genius?”
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Exactly! That’s why I felt I had to share it when it popped up in the Medium Daily Digest (apt word that!), even though it’s more than 3 years old. I see that you too have shared it now, as I hoped you would.
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