Captain Charles Moore, who stumbled upon miles of small plastics floating in the north Pacific Ocean, will be speaking at UH Manoa’s Campus Center Ballroom, January 17, from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. 

He will be discussing his new book Plastic Ocean and the growing amount of plastics in the world’s oceans. 

The event is being hosted by Sustainable UH and other local environmental groups which are working on legislation to reduce the use of plastic and paper bags. 

Building on Capt. Moore’s talk about the environmental and human health hazards of marine plastic pollution, the coalition will announce a new initiative to join the Rise Above Plastics (RAP) Campaign and make UHM a plastic bag-free campus.  The RAP Coalition is working to pass a statewide bill to reduce single-use plastic and paper bags and encourage the use of reusable bags, bottles and containers.

A good overview of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch can be found on NOAA’s website here.