Somewhere in the North Pacific there is a trash vortex which encompasses as much space as the state of Texas. Much of the garbage is plastics which have an extremely long lifetime before breaking down. In the sunlight and abrasive currents of the ocean these larger plastic objects will break into smaller pieces which are the root of the problem for marine life. Most fish and birds mistake large pieces of garbage for prey and are known to consume them, unsuccessfully of course. Animals are especially easily caught in discarded plastic netting and line. These plastics present an undecidedly large threat to marine life above and below the water. Many people help by cleaning up the beaches they frequent and others of us with less accessibility to oceans can try to help the cause by decreasing our need for non-biodegradable plastic. Perhaps we could invest in a reusable water bottle?
Sunday, May 1, 2011
The Trash Vortex
Somewhere in the North Pacific there is a trash vortex which encompasses as much space as the state of Texas. Much of the garbage is plastics which have an extremely long lifetime before breaking down. In the sunlight and abrasive currents of the ocean these larger plastic objects will break into smaller pieces which are the root of the problem for marine life. Most fish and birds mistake large pieces of garbage for prey and are known to consume them, unsuccessfully of course. Animals are especially easily caught in discarded plastic netting and line. These plastics present an undecidedly large threat to marine life above and below the water. Many people help by cleaning up the beaches they frequent and others of us with less accessibility to oceans can try to help the cause by decreasing our need for non-biodegradable plastic. Perhaps we could invest in a reusable water bottle?
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It is sad to think that citizens value our environment the way they do. If actions like this continue, it will be too late to restore our environment to the its originall standard. By doing something as simple as participating in a recycling effort, washing dishes instead of using paper plates, and investing in a reusable water bottle, the amount of trash yearly would decline tremendously. It is our job to keep our environment clean. If people do not stand up for our planet and encourage recycling, our littering problems will only escalate.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Leslie. Theres so much we can do as individuals to protect our environment, yet no one has made any drastic changes. Soon these "vortexes" will be popping up all over the place. im curious to see what our planet will look like in 20 years
ReplyDeleteThis is so sad, everyday we hear about litter on the side of the roads, and on beaches.. why can't this be stopped! Its sad to think that because trash was dumpped many animals will die as an effect. We could all do something so simple and recycle, even reuse. Nathan put as his last sentence, that maybe we could reuse water bottles.. if everyone were to reuse their water bottle at least one it would cut down majorly! Some one needs to step in and stop all this littering and pollution!
ReplyDeleteThe problem is there are irresponsible people that do not care about anything, and never will. And there will always be people like this. There are plenty of ways to easily cut down on the amount of trash that accumulates on the earth, there are some great ideas above that would help tremendously. It only takes a few very small changes in everyday life that could eventually save the environment if solutions would be taken into consideration.
ReplyDeleteI can relate to this because i have been the one on the beach and on the side of the road picking up the trash. It is really bad the volume of the trash that is picked up and it make you wonder what would happen if you did not pick it up.
ReplyDeleteSomething should be done about this, soon! This is definitely hurting the environment and all of that trash build up is very harmful to the biodiversity of that island. I agree with the reusable plastic water bottle theory.
ReplyDeleteEach individual needs to act responsibly by not littering and taking care of the environment. It seems to be true that some individuals do not care about the environment so they leave their trash everwhere! What we need is more individuals that take pride in cleaning up our surroundings.
ReplyDeleteI think it would be good to explain what a trash vortex is in the article, rather than just mentioning it and moving on to complaining about trash in the ocean.
ReplyDelete