AN ARTICLE TITLED “More plastic than fish in the sea by 2050” draws attention to a new Ellen MacArthur Foundation report on plastics and the oceans of our world. Greenpeace constructed their consciousness-raising quote for their current “Demand big corporations do their part to end plastic pollution” petition (in bold grey print below) from this report.
Facts in the MacArthur report regarding the massive production of plastics today and their devastating effects on our environment include:
• Plastics production has increased twentyfold since 1964.
• Plastics production is expected to double again in the next twenty years and will consume 20% of all oil production within 35 years, up from an estimated 5% today.
The equivalent of one garbage truck of plastic enters into our seas every minute, every day, all year long!
• 40% of plastics end up in landfill and a third in fragile ecosystems such as the world’s oceans.
• 30% of plastics end up in the world’s oceans.
• Just 5% of plastics are recycled effectively.
The MacArthur report concludes that “at least 8,000,000 tonnes of plastics leak into the ocean, which is equivalent to dumping the contents of one garbage truck into the ocean every minute.
If no action is taken, this is expected to increase to two per minute by 2030 and four per minute by 2050. The ocean is expected to contain one tonne of plastic for every three tonnes of fish by 2025, and by 2050, more plastics than fish [by weight].”
While neither the UK nor the US saw fit to issue Plastic Man with a picture sleeve, Pye Records did issue sleeves in other countries. This one is from Germany and is probably the most graphically interesting. The photo is from the cover photo sessions for the WE ARE THE VILLAGE GREEN PRESERVATION SOCIETY album of early 1969, an album doomed to failure based on the title alone.
Choking on plastic people
I thought I’d take this chance to present a recording by the Kinks from 1969 that few people in the world paid attention to back then, except for their diehard fans. It really has little to do with the issue of plastics pollution, but of course it does address the use of plastics by human beings, without which the pollution issue wouldn’t be an issue.
Recorded in the first week of March 1969, it was released during the final days of that month, backed with King Kong. The single failed to ignite the pop charts in the UK, where it was rumored that the BBC refused to play the song due to the word ‘bum’—which the BBC denied.
Plastic Man peaked at #31 in the UK, received little airplay and fewer sales in the US, but did find its way into the Top 20 hit in the Netherlands.
Neither Plastic Man nor King Kong found their way on to the group’s next album, ARTHUR, where neither really belonged.
While not one of their greatest achievements, Plastic Man was an interesting single and deserved more exposure in 1969.
As we diehard fans never tire of saying, “God save the Kinks!”
In 1972, Plastic Man was inexplicably left off THE KINK KRONIKLES, a fabgear compilation from 1972 that highlighted the group as both Top 40 hit-makers and brilliant rock artists. Oddly, King Kong was included. In 1973, Plastic Man was included on the US-only album THE GREAT LOST KINKS ALBUM.
Plastic Man lyrics
A man lives at the corner of the street,
and his neighbors think he’s helpful and he’s sweet
because he never swears and he always shakes you by the hand.
But no one knows he really is a plastic man.
He’s got plastic heart, plastic teeth and toes.
He’s got plastic knees and a perfect plastic nose.
He’s got plastic lips that hide his plastic teeth and gums,
and plastic legs that reach up to his plastic bum.
Plastic Man got no brain.
Plastic Man don’t feel no pain.
Plastic people look the same.
Kick his shin or tread on his face,
pull his nose all over the place—
you can’t disfigure or disgrace Plastic Man.
He’s got plastic flowers growing up the walls.
He eats plastic food with a plastic knife and fork.
He likes plastic cups and saucers ’cause they never break,
And he likes to lick his gravy off a plastic plate.
Plastic Man got no brain.
Plastic Man don’t feel no pain.
Plastic people look the same.
Kick his shin or tread on his face,
pull his nose all over the place—
you can’t disfigure or disgrace Plastic Man.
He’s got a plastic wife who wears a plastic mac
And his children wanna be plastic like their dad
He’s got a phony smile that makes you think he understands
But no one ever gets the truth from plastic man.
Scientists estimate that by 2050, there could be more plastic in the ocean than fish! Click To Tweet
FEATURED IMAGE: As much as I would like to claim that the photo at the top of this page is an assemblage by an environmentally conscious artist, it is not: it is exactly what it looks like. (Photo: Chris Jordan.)
To read the article “More Plastic Than Fish In The Sea By 2050,” click here.
Mystically liberal Virgo enjoys long walks alone in the city at night in the rain with an umbrella and a flask of 10-year-old Laphroaig who strives to live by the maxim, “It ain’t what you know that gets you into trouble; it’s what you know that just ain’t so.
I’ve been a puppet, a pauper, a pirate, a poet, a pawn, and a college dropout (twice!). Occupationally, I have been a bartender, jewelry engraver, bouncer, landscape artist, and FEMA crew chief following the Great Flood of ’72 (and that was a job that I should never, ever have left).
I am also the final author of the original O’Sullivan Woodside price guides for record collectors and the original author of the Goldmine price guides for record collectors. As such, I was often referred to as the Price Guide Guru, and—as everyone should know—it behooves one to heed the words of a guru. (Unless, of course, you’re the Beatles.)