What we have witnessed over the last few weeks has been shocking. Again, as when I conducted the first trawl in March in the North Atlantic, I have been saddened by the results of our sampling work. In every sample we have collected it is the same story. Plastic. The sad truth is that we are covering this earth in a material with incredible longevity and whose true nature is only now beginning to reveal itself.

The wonder material of the 1950s and 1960s has a dark side. In some ways the problem of plastic is simply a reflection of the unabated rise of short-sighted economics and consumerism: how can we waste so much? However, there are other potential problems to consider too. For example, one type of plastic is now banned for use in children's toys in the European Union due to the potential ability of additives used within it to interfere with babies development.

Over the last few weeks I have been asked many times what the solution to this problem is and how we can clean the plastic in the oceans. Sadly, it may be too late for the latter. The plastic already present on the oceans surface and in the sediment below may be part of the legacy that this of humanity leaves to the future. However, humanity is learning. Though the pace of change and the lack control on disposable plastic may be deeply frustrating, globally we are beginning to adopt better practices.

Two documentary makers (Cryptic Moth) who travelled with us spoke of how businesses all over the globe were wrestling with plastic. Trying, with solutions both elegant and crude, to manage the massive amount of waste we are currently generating.

Whilst our efforts to draw the global media's attention to is problem are, for now, wrapping up. The work continues. The yellow thing will finish her global journey by sampling the Sea of Cortez and South Pacific.

The less glamorous part of this scientific project then begins: months in the lab analysing samples and counting plastic. This work promises to be very important. Our efforts to assess plastic micro particles globally are unique and will help inform scientific debate about the state of our oceans.

While the impact of plastics on our oceans is slowly being revealed, its source is clear: plastic consumption on land, and with production growing astronomically every year the need for society to rethink the way we use this material has never been so great. So please, think about the impact that your day to day purchasing decisions may be having and consider how the plastic you use will continue its life after you no longer need it. Remember there is no such thing as throwing away or getting rid of. This is the only planet that we have and the only home for our children.