The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

I'm feeling preachy today so here we go.

Yesterday I was at work early so I could sit in on a training session for a new home filtration system made by 3M and Body Glove. You know those guys. They invented those sweet wet suits ocean goers love so much. They are introducing one of the first fully recyclable filtration systems that could soon be used in almost every new residential and commercial system in the US. This led our presenter to mention that this is important because unrecycled plastics are causing massive damage to the ocean by what is call "The Great Pacific Garbage Patch" or "Pacific Trash Vortex" as it's sometimes called.

I can't believe I've never heard of it. Apparently, there is a gigantic mass of trash floating in the pacific ocean that covers an area . . . (and I'm not mistaken) twice the size of Texas. Texas is 268,820 square miles. I'll let that sink in.

Trash that goes into land fills near the ocean don't stay in the ground. The go into a water shelf and float out to sea. The swirling current pushes it all together somewhere in between San Fransisco and Hawaii where wild life eat it. This is the point where trash enters the food chain. I've read that because of this patch, eating one steak fillet from a sword fish in the Pacific contains your entire year supply of mercury. Looking at the pictures make me feel ashamed. I can't think of a better word. Luckily there is an organization called the Environmental Cleanup Coalition that is trying to put together a fleet of ships that will clean a large amount of the trash and recycle it.

I recommend seeing what you can do to avoid letting your trash end up in the ocean. One tip I've heard is to take the cap off of you plastic bottles. Most but not all cities will not recycle your bottles if the cap is still on, even if you put it in your blue recycle trash can!

I sound like one of those green hippy activists. I guess I'm concerned that I've never heard of this problem and it seems so huge. We've been blessed with a planet that holds so much beauty that I know I take for granted.

This will end up on my list of things I'd love to fix in this world. Along with the children soldiers in Africa, the awful sport of bear baiting in Pakistan, and the lack of investments our own country makes in it's schools.