'We need to solve the Plastic Soup together: science, the government, and you and me'

Plastic Soup: it immediately conjures up an image. At the same time, the size of the problem is inconceivable and intangible. Scientific Communication student Aike Vonk and oceanographer Erik van Sebille joined forces to do something about it.

Together they launched the website uu.nl/plasticsoep, where schoolchildren can learn everything about the subject  in an accessible way. For instance, did you know that  we could cover the Netherlands 155 times over with  all the plastic in the soup?

'The Plastic Soup sounds like an abstract problem that we have little influence over, but we can actually do a lot about it. By educating and involving young people, I hope that we as a society will gradually handle plastic more responsibly,' Aike says about the project. 'We can’t solve it all at once, of course, but every small step brings us closer. Many drops make an ocean.'

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  ERC Starting Grant for Erik van Sebille

  Oceanographer Erik van Sebille receives ERC Starting Grant to study the distribution of plastic in the ocean.