Great Pacific Garbage Patch!
Floating in a whirlpool in the Pacific Ocean in a region from California to Japan, a large garbage patch composed predominantly of plastic waste, presents a massive problem to ocean life in this area. This garbage patch is covering up hundreds and hundreds of miles, and according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the United States, there is not yet an accurate measurement of the size of this garbage patch, but estimates range from twice the size of Hawaii to twice the size of the United States (National 2012). As the plastic waste decomposes, it causes serious disruption of normal ocean wildlife. Specifically, the byproducts of the plastic waste collect on the surface of the ocean, and block sunlight from reaching plankton and algae below. This in turn affects the entire plankton dependent food chain. Algae and plankton are the most common autotrophs in the marine food web. Autotrophs are organisms that can produce their own nutrients from oxygen, carbon, and sunlight. If algae and plankton are threatened, then they produce less and don’t continue to grow. This will create less food for animals such as sea turtles and fish that feed off of algae and plankton. The entire food web may change as a result when animals die from lack of food, and then sea creatures such as sharks and whales will not have any food as well because the fish are dying from lack of food as well. As a result, the ocean wildlife is also affected. The plastic bits floating around are extremely harmful for wildlife in the gyre. For instance, loggerhead sea turtles often mistake plastic bags for jellyfish, their favorite food. And the plastic rings used to hold six-packs of soda together have strangle many marine mammals and birds, such as albatrosses, and Plastic does not disappear; in fact it is not biodegradable. The United States and Japan are continually dumping large loads of trash into the Pacific Ocean causing the quantity of plastic to grow in size. The trash collects together, creating an ever-growing mass of material. This results in the death of mammals and birds that cannot tell the difference between food and this non-edible plastic. They will eat the plastic directly which cannot be digested. Plastic will remain in their stomach, only building in size which can result in death. Studies have shown that fish and other marine life do eat plastic. Plastics could cause irritation or damage to the digestive system. If plastics are kept in the gut instead of passing through, the fish could feel full (of plastic not food) and this could lead to malnutrition or starvation.
This problem was first discovered in a 1988 paper published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the United States. NOAA is a scientific agency that focuses mainly on the ocean and atmosphere. It warns of dangerous weather, charts seas and skies, guides the use and protection of ocean and coastal resources, and conducts research to improve understanding and stewardship of the environment. In addition to its civilian employees, NOAA research and operations are supported by 300 uniformed service members who make up the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps. The Great Garbage Patch was first discovered by Charles j Moore, a sailor who was competing in the Transpac sailing race in 1997. He noticed this large mass of garbage floating in the ocean, and alerted oceanographer, Curtis Ebbesmeyer about the problem (National Oceanic 2012) The Pacific Trash Vortex as it is described, is a gyre of litter composed of waste material caught up in the oceanic currents circling in the Pacific Ocean. The waste is predominantly composed of plastic and chemical sludge material deposited near and in fresh water systems that ultimately get transported to sea. Human waste is the main contributor to this phenomenon. Despite its size, the mass of waste material is not visible from any satellites as the composition of the material is mostly suspended plastic particles in a water column. So, as the plastic breaks down to smaller polymers, they fall beneath the surface of the water making them less visible from the sky.
The size and magnitude of this waste patch is a very complex problem that has been yet to be solved. It is believed that the cause of the concentration of the plastic and chemical debris comes from marine and river pollution that get drawn into the water currents that circulate in specific regions of the ocean called gyres. There are several gyres on the earth’s oceans including the North and South Atlantic Gyre, the North and South Pacific Gyre and the Indian Ocean Gyre (Cite reference here from Wikipedia). It is difficult to identify the exact source of the pollutants that are contributing to this giant waste field, but many believe that the majority come from land based sources that end up in rivers, with the remaining due to ocean based waste debris that ultimately combines with this waste.
The Great Pacific Garbage patch indeed has many devastating affects on the food chain. As the plastic degrades, it actually remains in a polymer that although gets smaller, never actually decomposes. The small aquatic organisms that live near the ocean’s surface ultimately ingest the particles that remain. These are then ingested by other marine life and remain in their bodies. Some plastics ultimately decompose, but they leave behind toxic chemicals that affect marine life. When humans ingest the fish and marine animals, the toxic chemicals can be transferred to them. (National Geographic 2012)
The Great Pacific Garbage patch poses many challenges to both marine and human life. The local effects are dramatic and growing. The devastation on marine life, and the effects on the food chain are concerning. The toxic chemicals generated can lead to health problems in humans. Unfortunately, finding a solution to this mounting problem is not easy. There is no realistic way of cleaning the oceans, but there may be ways to promote awareness and begin with local efforts in our home cities and towns to help reduce the impact and growth of this mass of floating garbage and waste. In particular, cities that have any river or lake access should be made aware of the contribution of plastic pollution to our oceans via the river systems. Raising awareness of this problem here in Colorado is important to decreasing the pollutants that come from our rivers to the Pacific Ocean. This will require a cultural change from one that currently uses plastic materials to alter the use of such material for their every day use. Unfortunately, this is not going to be an easy task. The use of plastic containers for all types of uses is on the rise. For example, the amount of used bottled waters has grown from 10.5 gallons of water used in 1993 to 22.6 in 2003 according to the Beverage Marketing Corporation. The use of plastic bags for groceries is also a contributing factor. Recently, California banned plastic bags after years of campaigning by clean-water advocates who said it would reduce the amount of trash in landfills, as well as the region’s waterways and the ocean. They estimate that Californians use 12 billion plastic bags a year and that less than 5% of the state’s plastic bags are recycled. Colorado isn’t as big as California; however, if we follow their example we could contribute to the large amount of plastic bags used everyday. We would be helping by not giving people to option to throw away useless trash that is never ending. People will become used to bringing in their own bags to reuse, which will create a healthy, helpful culture. This will involve everyone to contribute without a choice by simply not using and throwing away plastic bags. Though people found this irritating even though they knew it was helping the environment, people got used to it and it started becoming their nature. .
In order to help curb the devastation the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is having on our marine and human life, we need to promote changes at the local level. In Durango, I suggest the following solutions to help decrease our local impact on this growing problem.Management Plan 1.
1. Promote reusable bags and bottles in Durango, CO
a. Public campaign will be launched in order to promote awareness of the impact of plastic pollution on our marine and human life.
-Volunteers will help spread the word for public awareness and participate cleaning trash and deposing it the proper way.
-Schools, libraries, and public buildings will contribute by not allowing plastic bags.
-Stores in Durango will charge $0.50 per plastic bag.
-Citizens of Durango will recycle.
- Campaigns will be on the Internet, radio and local media sources and shown all over Durango, Colorado and its surrounding area.
- Facebook article on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch
b. Article to the Durango Herald Editorial Section.
-This will notify Durango about the huge problem currently going on in the Pacific Ocean.
-This will help raise awareness and hopefully get more people to try and participate in helping our environment.
c. Flyers will be posted around Durango, Colorado that explain the impact of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
-These fliers will encourage others to use reusable materials over plastic.
- Flyers in schools, libraries, and public buildings.
- Provide measurable goals – this plan will be considered a success when Durango reduces it’s plastic waste by 50%.
Management Plan 2
2. Reduce bottled plastic consumption in Durango by 50%.
Details:
a. Reduction of bottled water in schools, vending machines, and local businesses.
-This will lessen the amount of plastic trash waste and therefore reduce the chance of such waste, ending up in the ocean.
-Encourage local markets and beverage stores to have large water containers in place of bottled water.
b. Promote reusable metal water bottles in place of plastic water bottles.
- Metal reusable bottles keep the water fresh, clean and colder than plastic water bottles. As a result they are sturdy and can be easily washed and transported
c. Encourage and promote reusable grocery bags or paper alternatives
- Bring your own containers and reuse bags and plastic items
- Help pick up trash you see lying around and recycle everything you can
-Start local and regional cleanup days through schools, clubs, and organizations.
Management Plan 3
3. Promote conscious consumption, and raise awareness to the public.
a. Promoting knowledge to the public to inform them about the problem and how we can help will encourage[ahs1] the public to stop purchasing plastic items.
- This knowledge will be promoted through the paper, fliers, posters, popular Internet sites, and this issue could be promoted on the radio of Durango, Colorado.
- Encourage for people to volunteer and help by picking up trash, recycling everything possible.
- By promoting plastic waste awareness to the public and in schools, people will develop a more mindful approach to plastic consumption and use.
b. Start promoting plastic awareness by November 26th.
-Submit ordinance to City of Durango to ban plastic.
- This creates a way Colorado can contribute to the large mass of plastic traveling into the Pacific Ocean. This will get Colorado involved.
c. Though this will create less people purchasing plastic, we cannot be assured that everyone will stop buying plastic containers.
-Ban plastic bags in Colorado. There’s been vocal opposition to the proposal in Durango in the past shown in the Durango Herald, but this action has not occurred yet.
-This would require a lot of communication to manufacturing companies to get them to stop providing and creating plastic bags.
-We would have to speak to stores in Colorado to get them to stop providing plastic bags so that it is not an option for the public to purchase.
-In an effort to encourage shoppers to bring their own reusable bags to the grocery store.
- Demonstrate the positive effects on our environment with less plastic use.
-It could be a challenge to ban plastic bags throughout Durango, Colorado. Washington, California, and Texas have all banned plastic bags to contribute.
- This all helps reduce the amount of plastic. In order to reach the goal of reducing 50% of plastic, we will need to participate as well.
-Plastic is a true problem that is destroying our environment.
This problem was first discovered in a 1988 paper published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the United States. NOAA is a scientific agency that focuses mainly on the ocean and atmosphere. It warns of dangerous weather, charts seas and skies, guides the use and protection of ocean and coastal resources, and conducts research to improve understanding and stewardship of the environment. In addition to its civilian employees, NOAA research and operations are supported by 300 uniformed service members who make up the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps. The Great Garbage Patch was first discovered by Charles j Moore, a sailor who was competing in the Transpac sailing race in 1997. He noticed this large mass of garbage floating in the ocean, and alerted oceanographer, Curtis Ebbesmeyer about the problem (National Oceanic 2012) The Pacific Trash Vortex as it is described, is a gyre of litter composed of waste material caught up in the oceanic currents circling in the Pacific Ocean. The waste is predominantly composed of plastic and chemical sludge material deposited near and in fresh water systems that ultimately get transported to sea. Human waste is the main contributor to this phenomenon. Despite its size, the mass of waste material is not visible from any satellites as the composition of the material is mostly suspended plastic particles in a water column. So, as the plastic breaks down to smaller polymers, they fall beneath the surface of the water making them less visible from the sky.
The size and magnitude of this waste patch is a very complex problem that has been yet to be solved. It is believed that the cause of the concentration of the plastic and chemical debris comes from marine and river pollution that get drawn into the water currents that circulate in specific regions of the ocean called gyres. There are several gyres on the earth’s oceans including the North and South Atlantic Gyre, the North and South Pacific Gyre and the Indian Ocean Gyre (Cite reference here from Wikipedia). It is difficult to identify the exact source of the pollutants that are contributing to this giant waste field, but many believe that the majority come from land based sources that end up in rivers, with the remaining due to ocean based waste debris that ultimately combines with this waste.
The Great Pacific Garbage patch indeed has many devastating affects on the food chain. As the plastic degrades, it actually remains in a polymer that although gets smaller, never actually decomposes. The small aquatic organisms that live near the ocean’s surface ultimately ingest the particles that remain. These are then ingested by other marine life and remain in their bodies. Some plastics ultimately decompose, but they leave behind toxic chemicals that affect marine life. When humans ingest the fish and marine animals, the toxic chemicals can be transferred to them. (National Geographic 2012)
The Great Pacific Garbage patch poses many challenges to both marine and human life. The local effects are dramatic and growing. The devastation on marine life, and the effects on the food chain are concerning. The toxic chemicals generated can lead to health problems in humans. Unfortunately, finding a solution to this mounting problem is not easy. There is no realistic way of cleaning the oceans, but there may be ways to promote awareness and begin with local efforts in our home cities and towns to help reduce the impact and growth of this mass of floating garbage and waste. In particular, cities that have any river or lake access should be made aware of the contribution of plastic pollution to our oceans via the river systems. Raising awareness of this problem here in Colorado is important to decreasing the pollutants that come from our rivers to the Pacific Ocean. This will require a cultural change from one that currently uses plastic materials to alter the use of such material for their every day use. Unfortunately, this is not going to be an easy task. The use of plastic containers for all types of uses is on the rise. For example, the amount of used bottled waters has grown from 10.5 gallons of water used in 1993 to 22.6 in 2003 according to the Beverage Marketing Corporation. The use of plastic bags for groceries is also a contributing factor. Recently, California banned plastic bags after years of campaigning by clean-water advocates who said it would reduce the amount of trash in landfills, as well as the region’s waterways and the ocean. They estimate that Californians use 12 billion plastic bags a year and that less than 5% of the state’s plastic bags are recycled. Colorado isn’t as big as California; however, if we follow their example we could contribute to the large amount of plastic bags used everyday. We would be helping by not giving people to option to throw away useless trash that is never ending. People will become used to bringing in their own bags to reuse, which will create a healthy, helpful culture. This will involve everyone to contribute without a choice by simply not using and throwing away plastic bags. Though people found this irritating even though they knew it was helping the environment, people got used to it and it started becoming their nature. .
In order to help curb the devastation the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is having on our marine and human life, we need to promote changes at the local level. In Durango, I suggest the following solutions to help decrease our local impact on this growing problem.Management Plan 1.
1. Promote reusable bags and bottles in Durango, CO
a. Public campaign will be launched in order to promote awareness of the impact of plastic pollution on our marine and human life.
-Volunteers will help spread the word for public awareness and participate cleaning trash and deposing it the proper way.
-Schools, libraries, and public buildings will contribute by not allowing plastic bags.
-Stores in Durango will charge $0.50 per plastic bag.
-Citizens of Durango will recycle.
- Campaigns will be on the Internet, radio and local media sources and shown all over Durango, Colorado and its surrounding area.
- Facebook article on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch
b. Article to the Durango Herald Editorial Section.
-This will notify Durango about the huge problem currently going on in the Pacific Ocean.
-This will help raise awareness and hopefully get more people to try and participate in helping our environment.
c. Flyers will be posted around Durango, Colorado that explain the impact of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
-These fliers will encourage others to use reusable materials over plastic.
- Flyers in schools, libraries, and public buildings.
- Provide measurable goals – this plan will be considered a success when Durango reduces it’s plastic waste by 50%.
Management Plan 2
2. Reduce bottled plastic consumption in Durango by 50%.
Details:
a. Reduction of bottled water in schools, vending machines, and local businesses.
-This will lessen the amount of plastic trash waste and therefore reduce the chance of such waste, ending up in the ocean.
-Encourage local markets and beverage stores to have large water containers in place of bottled water.
b. Promote reusable metal water bottles in place of plastic water bottles.
- Metal reusable bottles keep the water fresh, clean and colder than plastic water bottles. As a result they are sturdy and can be easily washed and transported
c. Encourage and promote reusable grocery bags or paper alternatives
- Bring your own containers and reuse bags and plastic items
- Help pick up trash you see lying around and recycle everything you can
-Start local and regional cleanup days through schools, clubs, and organizations.
Management Plan 3
3. Promote conscious consumption, and raise awareness to the public.
a. Promoting knowledge to the public to inform them about the problem and how we can help will encourage[ahs1] the public to stop purchasing plastic items.
- This knowledge will be promoted through the paper, fliers, posters, popular Internet sites, and this issue could be promoted on the radio of Durango, Colorado.
- Encourage for people to volunteer and help by picking up trash, recycling everything possible.
- By promoting plastic waste awareness to the public and in schools, people will develop a more mindful approach to plastic consumption and use.
b. Start promoting plastic awareness by November 26th.
-Submit ordinance to City of Durango to ban plastic.
- This creates a way Colorado can contribute to the large mass of plastic traveling into the Pacific Ocean. This will get Colorado involved.
c. Though this will create less people purchasing plastic, we cannot be assured that everyone will stop buying plastic containers.
-Ban plastic bags in Colorado. There’s been vocal opposition to the proposal in Durango in the past shown in the Durango Herald, but this action has not occurred yet.
-This would require a lot of communication to manufacturing companies to get them to stop providing and creating plastic bags.
-We would have to speak to stores in Colorado to get them to stop providing plastic bags so that it is not an option for the public to purchase.
-In an effort to encourage shoppers to bring their own reusable bags to the grocery store.
- Demonstrate the positive effects on our environment with less plastic use.
-It could be a challenge to ban plastic bags throughout Durango, Colorado. Washington, California, and Texas have all banned plastic bags to contribute.
- This all helps reduce the amount of plastic. In order to reach the goal of reducing 50% of plastic, we will need to participate as well.
-Plastic is a true problem that is destroying our environment.