According to Meriam-Webster, one definition of clean is "free from dirt or pollution." Dirt according to them too is defined as "excrement, something worthless, or a filthy soiling substance like mud,dust, or grime."
Clean-ing refers to the process of achieving the absence of such substances. These substances we shall call pollutants differ from context to context.
In a medical context, i.e., the surgery room, bacteria is a pollutant, therefore to be considered a clean surgery room one must eliminate all microbial contaminants to ensure minimum risk of infection to the operated patient.
Whereas in a garden, bacteria rich soil and mud are a fundamental constituent of the ecosystem, without which the garden wouldn't be functional.
Different places demand for different definitions of clean and dirt.
Cleanup in the context of plastic pollution is often misunderstood by the general public. Due to the lack of context being given before initiating a cleanup operation. Cleaning your room requires a different mindframe to that of cleaning the environment from plastic trash. When cleaning your room, you arrange existing items into the optimal configuration to ensure comfort and aesthetics. Nothing about your messy room is a threat to anyone's life (for most people's rooms). However plastic pollution presents an environmental threat to living organisms that if allowed to persist, would be increasingly difficult to remediate.
Plastic is a very useful material due to its insulating and watertight capabilities. It does however come with its inherent chemical hazards when released into the environment as waste; however to stigmatize it as bad could be detrimental to the efforts to neutrally study its effects and take proper action. To avoid stigmatization, I will refer to the plastics that harm the environment as plastic pollutants.
Context
Expanding upon the previously mentioned point, plastic discard (sachets, plastic bags, bottles) are comprised of certain chemicals that when released into the environment as free-floating particles may cause harm via ingestion by living organisms. Plastics naturally break down when exposed to UV light from the sun, breaking it down into smaller and smaller pieces often refered to as Microplastics.
Microplastics are defined by (Frias and Nash, 2018) as “synthetic solid particles or polymeric matrices, with regular or irregular shape and with size ranging from 1 μm to 5 mm, of either primary or secondary manufacturing origin, which are insoluble in water.”
On a molecular level, microplastics attract other oil based compounds that free-float in the environment as polutants adding to its toxicity e.g. oil spills, industrial waste, DDT, etc. When ingested by wildlife such as plankton or small fish, they bioaccumulate (a process in which they become embedded in the tissue of the living organism) and make their way up the food chain, eventually leading to us.
Researchers such as Dr. Veetak, a professor of Ecotoxicology / Water Quality and Health at the VU University Amsterdam have found microplastics in our blood. Others such as Dr. Shanna Swan, an environmental and reproductive epidemiologist are keen on researching the effects chemicals in plastics have on our bodies; most notably for Dr. Swan, pthalates, a chemical used as a strengthening agent in plastics that when ingested by pregnant women cause the underdevelopment of reproductive organs in the fetus.
Plastics don't kill instantaneously like poison, thus giving the illusion that its safe. Plastics kill slowly on a generational level, impeding our ability to reproduce. Chemicals such as BPA (Bisphenol A) and BP-S/BP-F are known as Endocrine disruptors. In laymens terms, they mess with your hormones. Hormone receptors responsible for intepreting the presence of estrogen click well with BPA, intepreting BPA as estrogen. This implies male infertility, among many other subtly adverse effects that aren't immediately life-threatening enough to be considered noteworthy by most.
Most are familiar with the term "BPA free" on plastic bottles before even understanding what BPA is and does. In many cases, substances deemed dangerous by researchers and submitted to the government to construct regulation for manufacturers end up being replaced by a differently named material--to pass regulation--but has similar effects. In green toxicology this is called regrettable substitution. For practical reasons, we shall dismiss the concept of an "eco-friendly" plastic and consider all that we see as plastics to be removed from natural ecosystems; for it is virtually impossible to eyeball the difference in the field. If its plastic, take it out.
Applying the context
Cleanup in the context of plastic pollution therefore might but doesn't always involve decluttering. Decluttering is the process of organizing items in a given system from a cluttered state (small bits and pieces here, there, and everywhere) to a tidy state (all those bits are put together with zero space in between, creating a contrast separation between dirt and non-dirt and the different types of dirt.
Common mistakes that people have when cleaning up plastic pollution is they start cleaning up with the wrong goal in mind. Wheras someone with the mindframe of plastic pollution would attempt to remove plastics from the biosphere (which is as simple as placing a free-floating trash otherwise known as a litter, into a trash bin), people who go in with the concept of general-decluttering would aim to aestheticize the area by sweeping the area operation clean from all types of clutter including tree branches, dead leaves, and soil.
 |
| Fig 1. spectrum of cleanup orientation for different stakeholders, where do you fall on this spectrum based on what you value? |
 |
| Fig 2. a simplified illustration of the Trash Collection Route and how improper disposal behavior effects the broader management. Improper disposal behavior that perpetuates often solidifies the position of correctional actors position as the "sweeper" and mess-making becomes custom instead of a deviation. Further complicated by the fact that in reality the LTCR consists of multiple layers as demonstrated in Figure 3.  Fig 3. the broader picture of the Legal Trash Collection Route. If we zoom into each regional legal dump site, then each bin, we will eventually see where the deviation is happening. As illustrated in Figure 4.  Fig 4. Cleaning up after litterbugs The activity illustrated in Fig 4 is the very definition of Cleanup in the plastic pollution context. Defined as the course correction of waste-flow back into the system from which it has deviated, the LTCR (Legal Trash Collection System). Difference between Cleaners and Collectors  From a community development point of view, its ideal for deviations commited by anonymous actors to also be corrected by anonymous actors; to avoid the crystalization of volunteers into "public slaves." The moment you tell people "I cleaned this place" you will get a few applauses here and there but moving forward, you will change nothing other than the fact that people know you as the guy who doesn't mind people littering because, "hey, you'll enjoy picking it up right?" This is the danger of labeling yourself as a cleaner, you become part of the problem; perpetuating improper disposal behavior. This is also why cleaners should ideally not become a profession, because it will create a sentiment such as "they are paid to do this, its ok to litter." Whereas if cleanup is done by anonymous actors within society, everyone watches over the common order and people internalize the new standards of behavior. |
references:
Frias J., Nash R. Microplastics: Finding a consensus on the definition. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 2018;138:145–147.
Hood, Ernie. (2009). Phthalate Research Coming of Age? with Shanna Swan. Environmental Health Perspectives. 2009. 10.1289/ehp.trp061209.
