They say that somewhere out in the middle of the Atlantic, lies a vast floating island made out of millions of tons of the plastic bags, bottles, bin liners, nylon ropes, nets and all the disposable containers we have jettisoned over the years. Gaily coloured and rotating slowly with the currents that gathered its component pieces, it is both a death trap to myriads of marine creatures and a monument to our unsupportable lifestyles. And yet if someone said to me, let’s go and see it, I’d jump at the chance. In my imagination I am already there.

Does this make me a monster?