Texas - it's a pretty big state, right? The second largest in the United States and the equivalent size of the country Spain.
Imagine a floating mass of plastic trash twice the size of Texas. Unfortunately this isn't a hypothetical - it's what has been named the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
The enormous stew of trash - which consists of 80 percent plastics and weighs about 3.5 million tons, say oceanographers - floats where few people ever travel, between San Francisco and Hawaii. Plastic is the main contributor and most commonly ends up in the garbage patch one of two ways: litter on land goes down a sewer and ends up in the water stream; or, boats dumping into the ocean.
As you can imagine, the impact on marine species is devastating. Sea turtles mistake clear plastic bags for jellyfish. Birds swoop down and swallow indigestible shards of plastic. The petroleum-based plastics take decades to break down, and as long as they float on the ocean's surface, they can appear as feeding grounds. Animals die when plastic fills their stomach, and Gr
eenpeace found that at least 267 marine species suffer from ingestion or entanglement with marine debris.
eenpeace found that at least 267 marine species suffer from ingestion or entanglement with marine debris. As our marine ecosystem continues to become more frail and more species are added to the endangered list each day, we must work to end plastic and other trash from finding its final resting place in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
Unfortunately, in a story I read, experts say that there's not much they can do it clean the mass up. What's there now will stay there till it biodegrades - releasing toxic chemicals into the ocean, creating a toxic sludge.
But, environmentalists say that there are ways to prevent more trash from causing the garbage patch to grow:
- Use a reusable shopping bag when possible, and limit your use of plastic bags.
- Take trash with you when you leave the beach.
- Buy products in bulk to reduce packaging.
- Use reusable containers and drinking bottles whenever possible.
- Most obvious: DON'T LITTER; DO RECYCLE!
To find out more, visit http://www.greatgarbagepatch.org/
