Award-winning film shows the world’s oceans overwhelmed by plastic - 29 Aug 2010  
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French documentary 『The Mermaids´ Tears: Oceans of Plastic』 takes the viewer into the 『plastic soup』 that our global seas have become. In particular, the film focuses on the pollution that is affecting countless marine animals.

In the Netherlands, for example, scientists who were looking into the decline of the nation’s fulmar bird discovered plastic in 95% of the deceased birds’ stomachs, while in California, USA, dolphins and whales have been found to have died in extreme agony, with their digestive tracts completely blocked by plastic debris.

The phrase 『mermaid tears』 refers to the small pellets of plastic resembling fish eggs or even smaller that have been spilled in the transport of raw plastic materials, or have been broken down as granules of waste over the years.

With every square kilometer of ocean now containing an average of 74,000 pieces of plastic, these so-called mermaid’s tears are nearly impossible to clean up.

Directed by Sandrine Fevdel of France, the film’s thoughtful look at the destructive effects of plastic pollution has earned it numerous awards, including Best Environmental Film at the Prague Festival and the Greek Public Television Broadcasting Award at the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival 2010. 

Our heartfelt thanks, Ms. Feydel for this documentary, which makes clear the plight of marine animals in the face of human contamination of the oceans. May we all move rapidly to reverse these harmful effects and restore the health of our planet and oceans.

Ever-concerned for the balance of life on Earth, Supreme Master Ching Hai has often spoken of ways that humanity can show more care for the beings that depend on our actions for their survival, as during a May 2008 videoconference in South Korea.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: In many places there are already bans on the use of plastic bags. So I think that’s a very good start, and maybe we should impose a little stricter ban on these harmful substances.
Maybe we can use a carton instead, something more disposable, something more eco-friendly. And then we have to change.

The root of the problem is the cause of global warming, and that root is our unkindness to our co-inhabitants.

So, in order to solve the problem that we are facing right now, we have to reverse our actions. We have to be kind to our co-inhabitants. Instead of killing them, massacring them, sacrificing them, we have to take care of them.

Just become vegetarian, refuse all the animal  products, then nobody will raise animals anymore, nobody will kill them anymore. Then we stop the physical harmful effect of animal stock raising.

 http://www.viadeCOuvertes.fr/pages/fr/reference.php?id=86
 http://www.javafilms.fr/spip.php?article268
 http://www.indiewire.com/article/eyes_takes_thessaloniki_doc_fests_top_prize/#