In Our Plastic Problem: A Call for Global Solutions, author Megan Dunford tracks plastic from its optimistic beginnings as an alternative for ivory, to the serious environmental problems the petroleum-based substance now poses. 

Four chapters condense a large body of knowledge into digestible bites that young readers can understand, including clear explanations of the proliferation of microplastics in the Earth’s water systems (and in our own bodies) and the uncoordinated global efforts to reduce and recycle different types of plastics. 

Unflinching descriptions of the trouble we are in due to our plastic dependency and our mismanagement of the waste it creates are balanced with tips for reducing pollution in ways both big and small. For example, Dunford recounts that while her son didn’t want to stop wearing his favourite fleece sweater, he was willing to wash it less often, and in cold water, to help reduce its microfibre shedding. Efforts to clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch are explored.

Though the book is well-researched, stock photography dampens the visual interest it could have achieved with the inclusion of diagrams or illustrations. Refreshingly, however, the text highlights some Canadian-led research efforts; for example, the innovative green chemistry led by McGill University’s Audrey Moores, who is developing a new crustacean-waste based plastic. 

Our Plastic Problem joins a fleet of pedagogical resources on the topic, which will hopefully help a new generation prepare to combat the environmental catastrophe of unchecked plastic production and pollution.mRb