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“É doce morrer no mar”?
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Researchers examined the cultural and symbolic dimensions of plastic pollution in marine environments, exploring how the accumulation of plastic waste in oceans is creating new archaeological records and reshaping human relationships with the sea across cultural and historical contexts.
This paper starts from the recognition of the alarming rates of irregular plastic waste disposal in the environment, with emphasis on their presence in marine landscapes. We reflect on the implications of this phenomenon for the formation of new archaeological records and aim to highlight some symbolic dimensions of waste, refuse, rejection, and disposability. The study adopted an exploratory approach based on a literature review and critical analysis of recent research that has linked waste with the formation of plastiglomerates. We understand archeology as a field of study that can theoretically and methodologically appropriate such an emerging topic, and that it is possible to analyze plastic waste as traces of the present that shape and transform landscapes, memories and possible futures. Are marine environments today's biggest dump? Irregularly discarded waste, especially in marine environments, contributes to the formation of new archaeological records. To change this reality, it is necessary to go beyond simply slowing down large-scale production. We point to the urgent need for transformative actions in the industry, including setting goals for reducing plastic production and introducing new raw materials into the production chain. We must live with fair production and consumption, and fully reuse or recycle waste.
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Research digests by email
When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.