The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is actually many “Garbage Patches” that consist of accumulated plastics, marine debris, plankton, sea life, and other man made objects that have made their way into the ocean.

These patches are formed by natural gathering points that appear where rotating currents, winds, and other ocean features converge—forming the so called “Garbage Patches”.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) states that the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is as large as the state of Texas. However there are some misconceptions about the consistency of these patches that can be read HERE. The main type of debris within these patches are “Micro-plastics”

“While it’s true that these areas have a higher concentration of plastic than other parts of the ocean, much of the debris found in these areas are small bits of plastic (microplastics) that are suspended throughout the water column. A comparison I like to use is that the debris is more like flecks of pepper floating throughout a bowl of soup, rather than a skim of fat that accumulates (or sits) on the surface.”- said (The NOAA Marine Debris Program’s Carey Morishige)









She’s not downplaying the significance of microplastics. They are nearly ubiquitous today—degrading into tiny bits from a range of larger plastic items and now turning up in everything from face scrubs to fleece jackets—and their impacts on marine life mostly remain a big unknown.

With that said, many larger pieces of plastics still make up a significant portion causing health issues to wild life.

The lingering question about how to stop the accumulation of these plastics in our oceans has to be addressed. Humans release between 5.3 million and 14 million tons of plastic into the ocean annually. Nine million tons of plastic is the equivalent of 136 billion plastic milk jugs.

Our management of plastic clearly needs improvement. We currently recycle only 14 percent of plastic packaging, according to a recent NRDC report. (Disclosure.)

“Plastic pollution has huge economic costs for taxpayers and local governments,” says Darby Hoover, a senior resource specialist at NRDC. “Recyclable post-consumer packaging with an estimated value of $11.4 billion is landfilled in the U.S. annually instead of being recycled.”

In a speech last year, President Obama discussed how “we are the first generation to feel the impact of climate change and the last generation that can do something about it.” That’s also more or less true of plastic in the oceans. There was no mention of the problem in the scientific literature until the early 1970s. Today, tiny pieces of plastic are choking or obstructing the gastrointestinal tracts of seabirds, sea turtles, and many marine mammals.

The best option is to have manufacturers and producers limit the amount of packaging that is being used. 90% of packaging material gets used once, and is then thrown out. If we are serious about curbing this issue, we need to take a look at the source.

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