Kal Glanznig grew up surfing the beaches of Cronulla, and like most of us, he assumed Australia had dodged the worst of the global plastic crisis. Then he joined a clean-up in East Arnhem Land and everything changed.
In a two-week clean-up in October 2022, Dhimurru Rangers in partnership with Sea Shepherd collected 10.4 tonnes of rubbish from just 4.5 kilometres of shoreline. That was 30% more waste than was collected over the same distance in 2018. For Kal, it was a shattering moment and the beginning of an 18-month journey across Australia that became The Plastic Country.
In this episode, Lottie sits down with Kal to talk about what he found: plastic infiltrating remote First Nations beaches, turtles at Taronga Zoo on their deathbed with stomachs full of plastic, and a plastic pollution problem that Australia is almost uniquely positioned to ignore because we'd rather not look. They talk about the science, the politics, the personal stakes, and crucially the stories of hope and ordinary Australians already fighting back.
This is a conversation about what it means to grow up in a plastic country. And what it means to do something about it anyway.
Follow Kal's Journey on Instagram @kalglanznig, find out how to Take Action here and watch the full documentary here.