Ocean, People, Planet: Preventing Ocean Plastic Pollution
Episode 113
Homeownership is the largest source of wealth for most American families, and obtaining a safe, traditional 15-to-30-year mortgage is a key step toward achieving financial security. But outdated housing policies and financial regulations have made small mortgages—those for homes priced under $150,000—expensive for lenders and unavailable for millions of qualified and creditworthy borrowers, especially Black, Hispanic, and Indigenous households and those in rural communities. With limited access to small mortgages, many of these families turn to alternative financing arrangements, which often involve financial risks and lack many of the protections traditional mortgages offer.
Stat: 11 million metric tons—the amount of plastic that enters the ocean each year.
Story: We continue our “Ocean, People, Planet” season with a discussion of one of the largest threats facing the ocean: plastic pollution. Winnie Lau, who is the project director of Pew’s preventing ocean plastics project, and Richard Bailey, professor of environmental systems at Oxford University, discuss ways to reduce the amount of plastic entering the ocean and highlight a new analytical tool that nations can use to take action.
Related Resources
Our Ocean Is Choking on Plastic—But It's a Problem We Can Solve
Breaking the Plastic Wave: Top Findings for Preventing Ocean Plastic
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Ocean, People, Planet
There is only one ocean, essential to the life of everyone on Earth—and it faces perils like never before
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