The Plastic Crisis & Our Interconnected Ocean with Rachel Bustamante & Tamara Adame

Plastic pollution is one of the most urgent and far-reaching threats facing our Oceans today—touching everything from marine life to coastal communities to climate resilience. In this powerful conversation with Rachel Bustamante of Plastic Pollution Coalition and Tamara Adame, a scientific ocean diver and anti-plastics activist, we explore the multifaceted impacts of plastic on Ocean health, and the deep interconnections between pollution, policy, and our relationship with the living world.

With a background in environmental policy analysis and campaign coordination, Rachel has worked to protect marine biodiversity and Ocean health at both state and global levels—including participation in the UN Global Plastics Treaty negotiations and direct advocacy with U.S. lawmakers. Her work is grounded in a commitment to justice, care, and solutions that protect people and planet.

As a scuba diving instructor in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, diving in the Mexican Caribbean, Tamara started noticing a huge influx of plastics to the Ocean about eight years ago. Her own grassroots efforts at organizing Ocean cleanup - and seeing how little impact that had on the quantity of plastics in the region - led her to become an anti-plastics activist, both in her state of Quintana Roo and at the national level. Plastic bags in supermarkets have now been banned across Mexico, thanks to the efforts of many anti-plastics advocates, including Tamara.

This session includes grounded insight, personal story, and tangible steps for those seeking to become more active stewards of Ocean health—whether in local watersheds or at the global level.

Visit the webinar page to watch short film Mermaids Against Plastic and download a resource list with links mentioned in the webinar. 

To learm more about Rachel Bustamante and her work visit her here Plastic Pollution Coalition. 

To learn more about Tamara Adame and her work visit her website.  

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