Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Great Pacific Garbage Patch



This is not okay. How have I never heard of this before?! Am I the only one that hasn't heard of it? It is horrible! Below is some info I found via the website http://www.greatgarbagepatch.org/

Much of our waste today is comprised of plastic that does not biodegrade. This waste accumulates in swirling seas of debris, where plastic to sea life ratios are 6:1; where birds and mammals are dying of starvation and dehydration with bellies full of plastics; where fish are ingesting toxins at such a rate that soon they will no longer be safe to eat.

The largest of these garbage swills is known as the Pacific Gyre, or The Great Garbage Patch.

It is roughly the size of Texas, containing approximately 3.5 million tons of trash. Shoes, toys, bags, pacifiers, wrappers, toothbrushes, and bottles too numerous to count are only part of what can be found in this accidental dump floating midway between Hawaii and San Francisco.

Amazingly, there is no effort underway to clean the mess. Explore this web site to learn more, but most importantly - join the movement to address this problem!


Here is a link to a good video that talks about it too:
http://www.youtube.com/strangedaysaction

Also as a side note, bag the bag! Please start using reusable bags! I have them and I always forget to use them, but I think now I will start making more of an effort to use them whenever possible.

1 comments:

Megan and Brian said...

Welcome to my little environmental world. It's insane isn't it? There is a giant mass of trash in the ocean and no one is doing anything about it. Breaks my little hippie heart.
I love using the re-useable trash bags and once you start making a habit of it, you will be hooked. Mostly because of the space you will save avoiding hording bags and less loads of groceries since more can fit in the bags!