The numbers are staggering - up to 23 million metric tons of plastic end up in our waterways annually.

And once plastic enters our bodies of water, it will sit there without decomposing for centuries. Needless to say, the impact on marine life is unquestionable and as we further understand the role played by microplastics, we get a deeper sense of this practically invisible threat to our entire ecosystem.

In this very special panel conversation, we will hear from experts from around the world who are on the frontlines of studying the impact and attempting to counter the effects of plastic pollution in our oceans.

Shannon Switzer Swanson (Stanford University)
Gwenaële Coat (The Sea Cleaners)
Dorothy Wanja Nyingi (National Museum of Kenya)
Chelsea Rochman (University of Toronto)

Are you interested in learning more about and connecting with Tkaronto/Toronto’s water? If the answer is yes, join the Swim Drink Fish Toronto Community Based Water Monitoring Team this October! They’ll teach you how to take water samples that can help them all answer questions like ”where can I swim” and “is the water clean”. They’ll train you as a citizen scientist to properly collect water samples and environmental data that helps us understand the ins and outs of the health of Lake Ontario.

Swim Drink Fish is a nonprofit organization working to connect people with water since 2001. They use citizen science and communications technology to inspire people to safeguard their local waters. Join our movement and take action to help us move towards a swimmable, fishable, drinkable future.

The field trips will take place at the following times rain or shine:

Sunday, October 17th - 9:30-11:00 in the Toronto inner harbour

Tuesday, October 19th - 8:00-9:00 at Ontario Place

Tuesday, October 19th - 9:30-11:00 in the Toronto inner harbour

Tuesday, October 26th - 8:00-9:00 at Ontario Place

Tuesday, October 26th - 9:30-11:00 in the Toronto inner harbour

When you have completed the registration form they will send a follow up email with more information including where they will be meeting.

Children are welcome and encouraged to attend but they must be accompanied by an adult. 

 Please note: Accessing the waterfront sites in the inner harbour requires walking on floating docks and the Ontario Place site is a pebble beach.

This event is part of TPL's On Civil Society: Climate series, a year-long programming initiative that explores the effects that climate change is having on the only habitat we have.  We are faced with radical and unknown effects on the world’s oceans, rivers, wildlife and diminishing biodiversity.  These new realities of a future world paint a sobering picture that disrupts the very idea of humankind and its interventions on the planet.

Each month we focus on a different facet of the topic, featuring some of the world’s most innovative thinkers, scientists, activists, journalists and artists. Critical and long-neglected voices offer new perspectives on where we went wrong and, perhaps, some solutions for a healthy, sustainable and equitable future for our planet.

We will offer tools to help you weigh in with your opinions and experience, but more than this, we aim to inspire in at least some of you the desire to get involved in any way that works for you: through panels, lectures, field trips and workshops, key organizations will help you see some of those working for our planet that we didn’t even know about.

November 2021 - Urbanism in a Warming Planet
February 2021 - Inequalities
March 2022 - Going, Arriving, Leaving: Borders and Trade
April 2022 - Transportation and Movement
May 2022 - Indigenous Perspectives

On Civil Society: Climate is a collaborative project sponsored by Toronto Public Library, the Consulat Général de France à Toronto et Institut Français.

TPL’s On Civil Society series is generously supported in part by Chris M. Reid.

Toronto Public Library is committed to accessibility. Please call or email us if you are Deaf or have a disability and would like to request accommodation to participate in this program. Please let us know as far in advance as possible and we will do our best to meet your request. At least three weeks’ notice is preferred. Phone 416-393-7099 or email accessibleservices@tpl.ca

Climate - Waves of Plastic: Fighting Ocean Pollution