My friend Jeanne is letting me cut and paste the following entry from her facebook note. Apparently there is a garbage dump approximately the size of Texas floating in the Pacific Ocean. I had never heard of this before and I was appalled that something on such a large scale proportion has not received the media attention it deserves. (But then, what does?)
Here is her entry on this alleged island of floating garbage:
While I was on a whale watching cruise in Puget Sound this week, the wildlife specialist gave several beautiful speeches on preserving our planet. The Pacific NW seems to be much more in tune with being 'green.' Sure, that's a huge generalization, but I find it to be rather true.
Separate recycling bins for plastics, papers, bags, etc line the street. Riding the public transportation is now trendy because of high gas prices and the vehicular harm to the environment. People constantly discussing their appreciation of the environment. I'm sure there are many other examples that I was not able to see.
So, back to Kwasi, the naturalist on our boat. He discussed the necessity of being careful not to lose anything overboard, even accidentally. He referred to the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch."
Call me ignorant, but I had no idea what he was talking about. He went on to say that due to the currents and circulations of the ocean, there are different areas where the garbage thrown into our waters collects. Apparently, there is one location between California and Hawaii that is known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, or the north pacific gyre. He mentioned that it was larger than Texas and very thick as well.
I was skeptical. The current theory sounded reasonable, but the pure AMOUNT of trash he was discussing seemed... outrageous, exaggerated. Hyperbole?
Just check these things out:
The slowly clockwise spinning area now includes something known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, sometimes divided into the Western Pacific Garbage Patch and the Eastern Pacific Garbage Patch. The western one floats between Japan and Hawaii; the eastern one floats between Hawaii and California. Both move around, changing locations with the currents. The two patches are connected by a thin current stretching 6,000 miles and called the Subtropical Conergence Zone. The patches' sizes vary on how thick you think the garbage has to be to qualify as the patches' border, but each are conservatively the size of Texas.
(http://www.literaryescorts
An audio piece from NPR:
http://www.npr.org/templat
Something from Greenpeace:
http://www.greenpeace.org/
MOST IMPORTANTLY, watch some of these vids:
http://www.vbs.tv/video.ph
To be frank, I've never been one to really take into consideration long-term effects of my living. I'd love to blame someone else for this, but truly, it's my own fault for ignorance.
This is disgusting. I have to think about this more. How do I make a difference? Other than the obvious, recycling. What is the point of being too extreme? To be conservative in my purchasing of plastic - is it realistic?
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