PLASTICUS MARITIMUS

Ocean plastic threatens our world.

Pêgo, a marine biologist, has been documenting and collecting plastic from seashores for years. She gave it a scientific name, Plasticus maritimus, in 2015. In this comprehensive introduction, she explains and describes the problems plastics create in the oceans and other waterways. (The text, co-written with Minhós Martins, is presented in Pêgo’s first-person singular.) After an opening chapter about the importance of oceans, she provides a “field guide” to this invasive species, explaining what it is and why and how it is made, used, and discarded. She offers examples, both common and unusual, and tells her young readers how to look for it themselves. A third section offers sensible suggestions for what we can do to rethink, refuse, reduce, repair, reuse, and recycle to reduce the amount of plastic in our oceans. She devotes a final chapter to the difficulties of recycling this complex material. In conclusion, there are photographs of plastics found on beaches and a sculpture of a whale skeleton she created from it. (Her Facebook page includes more examples of her art, an activity that would probably appeal to young plastic collectors.) Ably translated from the Portuguese original by Springer, who also provided North American content, this text is not easy to read or think about, but confident, concerned readers will find it full of solid, useful information. Carvalho’s colored-pencil sketches as well as photographs enliven the pages.

A cleverly conceived and comprehensive introduction to a serious issue.