Âé¶¹´«Ã½

Letter: We must make Mars a plastic-free zone

Published 30 July 2025

From Michael E. Weaver, Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, UK

The story on human habitations on Mars that could be built from bioplastics filled me with horror. We have already polluted our own planet with plastics to such an extent that they are found everywhere and in every species. We are now proposing to pollute another world. Not only that, but the algae we end up using to make the plastic would be bred to survive in Martian conditions. I foresee our descendants looking at Mars with telescopes and no longer observing a red planet, but a world of whatever colour the algae happens to be(12 July, p 14).

Issue no. 3554 published 2 August 2025

Sign up to our weekly newsletter

Receive a weekly dose of discovery in your inbox. We'll also keep you up to date with Âé¶¹´«Ã½ events and special offers.

Sign up
Piano Exit Overlay Banner Mobile Piano Exit Overlay Banner Desktop