A Sea of Waste

The Economist has just published a special report on the sea which can be read on their site at www.economist.com. The site also contains a special interview with the reporter who created the story. It's worth a listen.

To see another film about the effects of humans on the sea check out www.messageinthewaves.com. This is the film that inspired me to start my own waste free journey.

Out in the middle of the Pacific is a great mass of waste, mostly plastic, that has been collecting for 20 years or so. It is called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. It was discovered by Captain Charles Moore.

This waste washes into the sea from the land or is dumped from cargo and cruise ships. It is the debris of civilization that blocks the sunlight from the oceans, looks like food to some marine animals and forms a floating raft to carry lifeforms from one area to another on the currents. Often with devasting results.

This waste through the action of the oceanic waves ends up on the shores of once pristine beaches of the archipelago of Hawaii and other islands in the Pacific.

The film spurred us to action. One of our primary challenges is to attempt to eliminate plastic in all of its forms. It is not a product of nature. It is not a source of food for any creature. Other than as a product of convenience for humans it has no value. When recycled, no matter how many times, it will eventually end up in landfills. If and when it breaks down it will still be small particles of toxic plastic dust.

In our daily lives we are surrounded by plastic. We have managed so far to eliminate plastic bags, plastic water bottles, and for the most part plastic wrapped foods - this later can be a challenge if you shop at the grocery store rather than the local farmer's market. Once we began to look for plastic in our lives we saw it everywhere. For instance, it exists as the packaging for most items in our bathroom such as shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste. This will be a greater challenge than ridding our lives of wasteful plastic bags.

But we must try. Doing nothing is not an option.