Did you know that there is a patch of floating trash in a garbage “vortex” in the Pacific ocean that is the size of TEXAS? According to an article by Greenpeace:

“The North Pacific sub-tropical gyre covers a large area of the Pacific in which the water circulates clockwise in a slow spiral. Winds are light. The currents tend to force any floating material into the low energy central area of the gyre. There are few islands on which the floating material can beach. So it stays there in the gyre, in astounding quantities estimated at six kilos of plastic for every kilo of naturally occurring plankton.  The equivalent of an area the size of Texas swirling slowly around like a clock. This gyre has also been dubbed “the Asian Trash Trail” the “Trash Vortex” or the “Eastern Garbage Patch”.”

And sadly, this isn’t just a hyped up thing to get people’s attention. It’s for real. Apparently each year, worldwide, 100 million tons of plastic is produced (!) and about 10 percent (!!!) ends up in the oceans either as a result of shipping issues or from just regular pollution from land. Isn’t that crazy?

And now, they have just announced that this disgusting, man-made phenomenon is not just a Pacific ocean issue, but they have discovered a smaller, but similar, vortex in the Atlantic ocean. Yesterday an AP article was released that stated:

“Researchers are warning of a new blight on the ocean: a swirl of confetti-like plastic debris stretching over thousands of square miles (kilometers) in a remote expanse of the Atlantic Ocean.

The floating garbage — hard to spot from the surface and spun together by a vortex of currents — was documented by two groups of scientists who trawled the sea between scenic Bermuda and Portugal’s mid-Atlantic Azores islands.”

So aside from just being generally disgusting and a display of the impact of the plastic-crazed, consumptive world we live in, what’s the big deal? Well, this stuff is here to stay. Forever. Really. The process for them to break down is slow and destructive. Here’s another quote from the Greenpeace article:

“A single one litre drinks bottle could break down into enough small fragments to put one on every mile of beach in the entire world. These smaller particles are joined by the small pellets of plastic which are the form in which many new plastics are marketed and which can be lost at sea by the drumload or even a whole container load.  These modern day “marine tumbleweeds” have been thrown into sharp focus, not only by the huge quantities removed from beaches by dedicated volunteers, but by the fact that they have been found to accumulate in sea areas where winds and currents are weak.”

Did you catch that? A SINGLE one liter bottle can break down to into enough small fragments to put one on every mile of beach in the ENTIRE world! Really makes you think, doesn’t it? But not only is it just producing more gunk to clog up our oceans and beaches, it’s really hurting our marine life.

If you’d like to see just how awful the effects of this pollution is, check out Greenwala blog’s  The Ocean’s Top 25 Deadliest Pollution Predators. The visuals on the site (including the one I have here with the turtle) are incredible  – and so sad. They say that “Scientists believe that 100 million sea creatures — including a combination of one million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals and sea turtles — die annually from this foreign and highly toxic diet.” Sigh. Balloons, batteries, cans, dental floss (who knew?), six pack holders – there all there, plus plenty more.

Here’s hoping that someday we can figure out a way to get this whole mess cleaned up. Otherwise, who knows what the consequences will be.

Well – apparently it is far more difficult than you think. One Chicago Tribune journalist made an attempt and her story is interesting and fun to read.

Check it out:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-plastic-free-satdec27,0,5147886.story?page=3

Think about it – cereal comes in plastic bags inside the boxes, deli meat wrapped in plastic, oatmeal cannisters have a plastic lid. It goes on and on. And this writer has young children – sippy cups, diapers, disposing of diapers. It’s a big challenge! It made me think – could you possibly live a life without using any plastic? Probably not – I’m typing on plastic keys, I answer my plastic phone, I brush my teeth with a plastic toothbrush. Yipes. I never had thought about how much we use. And when we’re dead and gone? It will ALL still be here. Oh boy.

Next time you see that commercial for Oil of Olay body wash with “spa exfoliating ribbons” or the Clean and Clear Daily Pore Cleanser or the Dove Gentle Exfoliating Foaming Facial Cleanser (or any of a number of other “big name” products) – think about this: those products use tiny spheres of plastic (polyethelene to be exact) to exfoliate your skin. So by using those products, people are sending those beads down the drain and into our groundwater – eventually making it to oceans and streams. We all know that there is way too much plastic that is ending up polluting our planet – so do we REALLY need to create more products that could be made using alternative, earth-friendly ingredients but instead choose non-biodegradable, pollutive plastic to further clog up our waters and poison our wildlife?

Check out the full article here: http://www.slate.com/id/2193693?nav=wp

Not really convinced that this could be a problem? Consider this – did you know that there are people that study SAND? According to a National Geographic article (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/05/0506_040506_oceanplastic.html):

“U.K. researchers in Plymouth and Southampton, England, found that microscopic fragments of nylon, polyester, and seven other types of plastic are widespread in sediments around British shores.”

The scientists said “We believe that these [fragments] probably represent only a small proportion of the microscopic plastic in the environment.”

According to the article there was “approximately three times more plastic in the water column in the 1990s compared with the 1960s.”

“Estimates for the longevity of plastic range from a hundred to a thousand years,” said the leading scientist “Since we’ve only been [mass producing] plastics for 40 years, we still don’t have a full handle on their longevity.”

Really – can these big brands at least make some ATTEMPT to do the right thing?