Richard Thompson
The ‘godfather of microplastics research’.
Lift a handful of sand on any coastal walk and look closely and you’ll likely see tiny bright fragments: microplastics. Thompson was the first to coin the phrase in 2004 and has spent years researching their impact, often on the rocky shores of Plymouth Sound where he’s director of the university’s Marine Institute. His work influenced the tax on single-use plastic bags and a ban on microbeads in cosmetics, although he doesn’t argue for a complete veto of plastic: sometimes it’s the optimal material. Thompson does advocate for cautious use, particularly on single-use items, and that we take care to recycle correctly at the end of a product’s life. And we can all help by litter-picking on walks, wherever we are, to reduce plastics breaking down into the waterways and oceans of the world. See preventingplasticpollution.com
WALK HERE: Find a Plymouth Sound route at walk1000miles.co.uk/bonusroutes