Tuesday, April 3, 2012

The Floating Dumpster


We have all been told about the awful things that happen to the waste we produce. It is either dumped into overly large man-made holes to sit for the rest of eternity, or it is put into an incinerator, where everything is burned and we pollute our air even more than we do to begin with. But not all of the garbage we as a population produce ends up in the dump. What happens to the litter that is thrown around the earth that the rain washes away and doesn’t get caught on the beach? This is where most people lose all knowledge in the subject.  I am here to unfortunately inform you, that our earth’s largest landfill isn’t on land at all. Instead, it is in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, floating there, collecting stray trash and becoming what we know as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.



To me that doesn’t sound, or look, great at all, instead it sounds quite disgusting, and let me tell you, it is. This huge mass of plastic floating plastic stretches for hundreds of miles, forming by colliding currents forming something I would call a vortex that sucks the trash in to the patch. While much of this situation is devastating, the main problem is that most of this island is made up of plastic, a non-biodegradable substance that wont be broken down, leaving it to float there forever, which of course causes huge problems for marine life.

The question we have to answer now is how? How do we proceed in cleaning up the gigantic floating mess we have made in the middle of the pacific? It starts with being informed. Knowing how to properly dispose of waste and what can and cannot be recycled. Making the smart decision of not littering and using the earth around you as your own personal garbage can. However, It is unfortunately going to take a lot more than knowing how to recycle to clean up our mess, so that should probably be left to the experts. It is up to us though, to make conscious decision. That is my challenge for you; become more educated. Learn exactly what can be recycled. And the next time you are tempted to throw something on the ground, hold onto it for just a little longer until you find a proper way to dispose of it, instead of allowing it to end up in the middle of the pacific.  

A.M.Y. 

2 comments:

  1. Great comments.. can you please put a link in to the Utube video about trash island. It is so interesting and I think everyone would like to know more!!! Also take a look at using things that are bio-degradable. What are our options? for example I know that 7th generation makes biodegradable trash bags which is great except if we put in them a ton of plastic not so useful.

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  2. Business says that you need to see what you are buying. Only plastics give that outcome. Would you buy a soft drink in a waxed lined container like milk? The container situation is a matter of marketing! All consumer items should be sold through dispensing machines where you bring your own container. Second all plastis should have a value attached to it . Garbage that has a monetary value for return. Third recyclable plastics cannot be dumped into unregulated waters. Where its cheaper to dump that truly recycle.

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