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"An Ocean Voyage and a Rising Tide of Activism to Fight Plastic Pollution" (Encore Presentation)

Aired on Thursday, December 7th.

(Note: This interview originally aired back in August.) Our guest is Marcus Eriksen, a naturalist, author, and environmental activist whose latest book -- "Junk Raft" -- details his 2008 sea voyage on a craft made from plastic bottles and other recycled materials; it's a trek he made in order to demonstrate the blight of plastic waste in the world’s oceans. As was noted of this book by Kirkus Reviews: "Accompanied by a fellow activist and sailor, Eriksen...sailed from Los Angeles to Hawaii on the Junk, 'a raft made from plastic bottles, with thirty old sailboat masts for a deck and a Cessna 310 airplane as a cabin.' The author sought to attract attention to this growing problem by imitating the path taken by trash routinely dumped into the ocean, where it is 'shredded and pulverized' into microplastics. Eaten by unwitting birds and fish who mistake it for nourishment, it enters the food chain with disastrous consequences, which the author describes graphically. Examples of these hazards include the microbeads of plastic found in toothpaste and cosmetic creams and the plastic foam from insulated cups and coolers. To the extent that this problem is recognized, the plastics industry, and many conservative legislators, seeks to lay the blame on consumers who litter, refusing to take any responsibility. The book, however, is not simply a polemic. Eriksen succeeds in dramatizing a significant problem and enlisting popular support, noting some immediate steps that can be taken to create recyclable products. The author reports that advocacy groups are beginning to register success as consumers become more aware, and he gives the example of the plastic bag ban in Hawaii. Eriksen explains that one of the keys to a successful campaign is to get manufacturers to shoulder some of the blame. After 88 days on the raft, during which they fished for their daily sustenance, faced hurricane winds, and had a close encounter with another vessel, he and his partner landed safely in Hawaii with many stories of their adventures at sea. The thrills and chills of rafting packaged with a compelling call to action."

Rich Fisher passed through KWGS about thirty years ago, and just never left. Today, he is the general manager of Public Radio Tulsa, and the host of KWGS’s public affairs program, StudioTulsa, which celebrated its twentieth anniversary in August 2012 . As host of StudioTulsa, Rich has conducted roughly four thousand long-form interviews with local, national, and international figures in the arts, humanities, sciences, and government. Very few interviews have gone smoothly. Despite this, he has been honored for his work by several organizations including the Governor's Arts Award for Media by the State Arts Council, a Harwelden Award from the Arts & Humanities Council of Tulsa, and was named one of the “99 Great Things About Oklahoma” in 2000 by Oklahoma Today magazine.
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