Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Trash Island, AKA the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is an island of trash build up in the ocean. There are two garbage patches, the Western Garbage patch and the Eastern Garbage patch. The Western Garbage patch consists of trash from mostly Japan and the Eastern Garbage patch consists of trash from Hawaii to California. During the past 10 years we have all let trash accumulate in areas of our oceans, called Gyres, which are areas of spinning debris. “These areas of spinning debris are linked together by the North Pacific Subtropical Convergence Zone, located a few hundred kilometers north of Hawaii.” The convergence zone is created by warm and cold water from the South Pacific and the Arctic that creates a kind of expressway for debris to
We need to recycle, stop littering, and accumulate less garbage. How can we start to make these differences, we have to start with laws. For an example in California they banned the use of plastic bags. Just the banning of plastic bags alone in California made an immense difference to the environment. To look at a bigger picture, than just banning plastic bags, we need to consider biodegradable plastics. We use plastic and we’re going to keep on using it, so loosing track of small stray pieces of plastic is inevitable. Biodegradable plastic will help with stray plastic, in that “By the time some accidental piece is lost in nature reaches a gyre, it is completely decomposed in solely organic
Hurting sea animals alone should be enough to make a change but of course it is not, so in order to shine a light on how consequential Trash Island is not only to the animals but to us humans too, we must educate people on the total effects of Trash Island. Plastics and waste from people take ages to decompose, therefore polluting and intoxicating the fish and marine wildlife. For those seafood lovers out there, the fish that is being consumed may be contaminated with toxins and pollution from our neglect for our earth. Any toxins that are released into any part of the earth eventually enters the food chain. Toxins entering the food chain can be harmful to us in that through the animals we ingest we take in their toxins. Certain toxins found in such animals are “lead, cadmium, and mercury.” “Diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) contained in some plastics, is a toxic carcinogen, other toxins in plastics are directly linked to cancers, birth defects, immune system problems, and childhood developmental