The open ocean, called the high seas, lies outside the boundaries of any country, making up nearly two-thirds of our ocean and providing 90 percent of the habitat for all ocean life. But only about half of 1 percent of the high seas are fully protected from fishing, mining, and other human activity. Delegates from more than 100 countries met at the United Nations in New York in September 2018 to start negotiating a treaty to try to change that. Half the planet is at stake in this fight. Help us protect the precious ocean life that lives in the high seas, for generations to come.
Can we solve the problem of ocean plastic pollution and end extreme poverty at the same time? That’s the ambitious goal of The Plastic Bank: a worldwide chain of stores where everything from school tuition to cooking fuel and more is available for purchase in exchange for plastic garbage — which is then sorted, shredded and sold to brands who reuse “social plastic” in their products. Join David Katz to learn more about this step towards closing the loop in the circular economy. “Preventing ocean plastic could be humanity’s richest opportunity,” Katz says.
