SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH IN PLAIN ENGLISH

How Aware and Concerned Are People About Plastic Pollution?

Teaching you how to think like a researcher with a case study in Portugal

Plastic litter in the ocean resembling an ice berg. Metaphor for the study on awareness and knowledge of plastic pollution among the public (Created in Canva)

Non-members can read here.

Last summer, my kid brought home a little snow globe from a trip with relatives.

At first, I wasn’t too impressed because this was snow globe number 3, and nobody on this planet seemed to have thought of making these things shatter-proof when dropped by younger copies of ourselves.

Then, my kid shook the snow globe and did not say, “Look, it’s snowing around the sea creatures!” He said, “Look! The sea creatures are swimming in microplastics!”

I couldn’t believe my ears. This kid, a little over half my size, actually knows about microplastics!

Perhaps you’ve read my previous synopsis of Gea Oliveri Conti and colleagues’ review paper on the severity of microplastic pollution in the face of climate change. You’ve probably also heard about the severity of plastic pollution on various news channels.

My eureka moment at my home led me to wonder whether any published research studies had investigated the depth and breadth of public awareness about microplastics and…