Junk Raft: An Ocean Voyage and a Rising Tide of Activism to Fight Plastic Pollution

by Marcus Eriksen Narrated by James Patrick Cronin

Overview

When Marcus Eriksen co-founded the 5 Gyres Institute and set out to study marine pollution, he discovered that a plastic smog of microparticles permeates the world's oceans, defying easy clean-up efforts. What's more, these microplastics have seeped into the food chain, threatening marine animals and humans alike. Far from being a gloomy treatise on an environmental catastrophe, Junk Raft tells the story of Eriksen's fight to raise awareness and solve the problem of plastic pollution. Eriksen writes of his voyage aboard his homemade junk raft, and along the way he recounts his successful efforts to fight corporate influence and demand that plastics producers take responsibility for a problem they've created. Eriksen provides concrete, actionable solutions and an empowering call for all of us to courageously challenge the status quo for the sake of the planet.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Eriksen succeeds in dramatizing a significant problem and enlisting popular support, noting some immediate steps that can be taken to create recyclable products...The thrills and chills of rafting packaged with a compelling call to action.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“Eriksen’s work is a much-needed wake-up call for the public to pressure politicians to finally tackle an often-overlooked but deadly form of pollution.”
—Booklist

“Junk Raft is a stimulating, thought-provoking and factually grounded read.”
—Nature

“This book combines many of my favorite things—adventure far from shore, the spirit of exploration, and the fight to save our oceans—all in a gripping narrative that’s also a parable for our time. In the battle for the future of our living world, Marcus Eriksen is a true warrior.”
—James Cameron, filmmaker and deep-ocean explorer

“Navigating between an epic seafaring adventure and an activist’s environmental distress call, Junk Raft serves as a reflection of the choices and journeys that each of us makes and helps us understand how plastic in the oceans is deeply intertwined with the future of human life. Eriksen gets at the heart of what it means to respond to environmental catastrophe on our imperiled planet. As Marcus’s wife, Anna, puts it so memorably, ‘Love creates justice.’”
—Céline Cousteau, documentary filmmaker, artist, and environmental activist

“Marcus Eriksen and I share the same struggle, namely, to draw back the plastic curtain in order to subdue the monster that the plastics industry created. Junk Raft is filled with adventure, romance, and important truths that will be needed by the thousands of groups who will eventually overcome the beast. This book heralds the beginning of a new field of scientific research, adding fuel to movements dedicated to the survival and liberation of the natural and human worlds.”
—Captain Charles Moore, author of Plastic Ocean and founder of Algalita Marine Research and Education

“When the junk raft was originally making its crossing from California to Hawaii, it was big news for ocean lovers around the world. It’s exciting to now be able to read such a personal account of these adventures, exploring the thoughts that were going through Marcus’s mind, and the daily challenges that arise when taking a journey as monumental as this one.”
—Jack Johnson, musician and clean-ocean activist

“Junk Raft takes us on an exciting and quixotic voyage of exploration, adventure, and activism, and along the way, Marcus Eriksen somehow manages to turn his cutting-edge research into an engaging love story. Don’t be fooled by the title—Eriksen’s Junk Raft carries a treasure chest full of adventurous stories, wise insights, and valuable lessons on how to protect our oceans.”
—Stuart H. Coleman, author of Eddie Would Go and Hawaii manager of the Surfrider Foundation

Kirkus Reviews

2017-05-10
A naturalist and environmental activist chronicles his 2008 ocean journey to draw attention to the blight of plastic waste in the world's oceans.Accompanied by a fellow activist and sailor, Eriksen (My River Home: A Journey from the Gulf War to the Gulf of Mexico, 2007) sailed from Los Angeles to Hawaii on the Junk, "a raft made from plastic bottles, with thirty old sailboat masts for a deck and a Cessna 310 airplane as a cabin." The author sought to attract attention to this growing problem by imitating the path taken by trash routinely dumped into the ocean, where it is "shredded and pulverized" into microplastics. Eaten by unwitting birds and fish who mistake it for nourishment, it enters the food chain with disastrous consequences, which the author describes graphically. Examples of these hazards include the microbeads of plastic found in toothpaste and cosmetic creams and the plastic foam from insulated cups and coolers. To the extent that this problem is recognized, the plastics industry, and many conservative legislators, seeks to lay the blame on consumers who litter, refusing to take any responsibility. The book, however, is not simply a polemic. Eriksen succeeds in dramatizing a significant problem and enlisting popular support, noting some immediate steps that can be taken to create recyclable products. The author reports that advocacy groups are beginning to register success as consumers become more aware, and he gives the example of the plastic bag ban in Hawaii. Eriksen explains that one of the keys to a successful campaign is to get manufacturers to shoulder some of the blame. After 88 days on the raft, during which they fished for their daily sustenance, faced hurricane winds, and had a close encounter with another vessel, he and his partner landed safely in Hawaii with many stories of their adventures at sea. The thrills and chills of rafting packaged with a compelling call to action.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940175394192
Publisher:	Dreamscape Media
Publication date:	01/16/2018
Edition description:	Unabridged

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