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Charles Moore has done more than anyone could imagine after his historic discovery of the monster two-million square mile Great North Pacific Garbage Patch in 1997. He was sailing through the doldrums, but his mind was not in the doldrums. Once back in Long Beach, California, he prepared to go back and research exactly what was all that plastic soup he accidentally encountered on his voyage. He shared his research, conferred with experts, founded a nonprofit organization, and co-produced an award winning documentary, Our Synthetic Sea.

Culture Change readers have known about the plastic plague since 2004, after I met Captain Moore and we discussed petroleum and other subjects of mutual interest. We were introduced by Dr. David Cundiff, a mutual friend known to Culture Change readers for his book The Health Economy. David and Charles have in common a passion for community organic-garden activism.

Charles Moore is our generation’s Jacques Cousteau for ocean awareness. As a result of Capt. Moore’s tireless publicizing of the problems with plastic, bans of single-use plastic petroleum shopping bags have proliferated. But there is much more to do to stop the plastic plague poisoning our bodies, sea life, and trashing the planet.