60% of the plastic found in the oceans is made up of “single-life plastic”: plastic bags, Styrofoam food containers and plastic beverage bottles that can have a life expectancy of more than 500 years. – Beth Terry, Fake Plastic Fish
Did you know that there is a gigantic garbage island floating in the North Pacific Ocean?
Although it’s unclear exactly how big it is, the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” is a massive and sad monument to human waste. It stretches for hundreds of miles in waters north of the Hawaiian Islands.
Scientists aren’t sure of its exact size, but estimates range from the size of Texas to larger than the continental US. not a solid mass, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is difficult to measure. It is also not detectable from satellite images.
It is known as “Garbage Island” or “Garbage Island”, but these identification labels are misleading. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch looks more like a chain of islands, with some parts being more visible than others because parts of the garbage patch are slightly submerged and others are too small to see.
Unfortunately, the amount of plastic trash in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch has increased 100-fold over the last 40 years, causing profound changes to the marine environment (NBC World News, 2012).
So what’s in it?
The main ingredient is plastic. Plastic bags, bottles, and other consumer products migrate to the patch but do not biodegrade. Instead, sunlight gradually breaks plastics down into smaller pieces, known as plastic particles, until they are microscopic in size.
However, the patch is not all plastic. Fishing nets, steel shipping containers (and their various contents), metals, glass, and rubber all contribute to the problem. However, most of these materials sink, leaving plastic pollution to hang over them.
The threat to marine life is significant.
Discarded fishing nets entangle seals, sea turtles, dolphins and other animals, causing many to drown. Also, some marine animals will mistake plastic bags for jellyfish and swallow them. This can result in suffocation or starvation. Meanwhile, the smallest debris can prove fatal to seabirds that often mistake the trash for food. After removing it from the water, many birds feed their chicks inedible plastics, leading them to starve.
Another major hazard is created when sunlight hits plastic contaminants. This raises two major problems:
First, sunlight releases chemicals and toxins from the plastics, which then leach into the water. Second, light causes photodegradation, which breaks down larger plastic materials into plastic particles. Released into the food chain, this plastic particle can have devastating results when consumed by marine organisms.
What you can do?
Given the vast scope of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and the funds required for such a major cleanup operation, getting on boats and fishing for debris is no easy solution. And the discovery of a similar garbage patch in the North Atlantic Ocean means several major cleanup operations will be needed to help tackle the problem.
A more practical approach, at least to begin with, is to reduce the amount of garbage we’re putting at the source. This means reducing and recycling the plastics in our lives.
Here are 7 simple ways you can help:
1. Use reusable water bottles and cloth bags instead of disposable water bottles and plastic bags.
2. Evaluate whether you need to use plastic bags as garbage bags; if you don’t need to use them, then don’t.
3. If you prefer to use plastic bags for trash, maybe reuse other plastic bags instead of buying new ones just for trash. Large bags of dog food as well as bags of soil and compost work well.
4. Recycle plastic bags and water bottles instead of throwing them in the trash, where they will end up in the landfill…or in the oceans.
5. Talk to others about using plastic bags and bottled water (or send them Face the Future blogs!) and encourage them to cut back.
6. Consult companies and municipalities about the amount of plastics they use and their recycling programs.
7. Try to buy fewer products that come in plastic containers… the best way to reduce plastic waste is to use/buy less in the first place.
If each of us takes these small steps, maybe we can at least start killing the deep blue sea Leviathan garbage.
In the meantime, if you’d like to learn more about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, check out “Breaking the Plastic Addiction: TEDx Great Pacific Garbage Patch” on the Huffington Post blog.