so, i know that i am writing about what i am doing in americorps...but i would like to share some information about environmental issues, too as i learn about them.
a while ago i learned about a floating mass of garbage in the pacific ocean that was rumored to be the size of texas. i believed that there was a an island of garbage, but i thought that the size had to be exaggerated. after reading a little blurb about it yesterday, i did some research online and was horrified to find that the large swirling mass of garbage is TWICE the size of texas...and there are TWO of them. they are known collectively as the western and eastern pacific garbage patch. a google search about either of the garbage patches yields not much info....& considerably less for the western patch, which forms between japan & hawaii. the massive landfills are formed by ocean gyres....which are clockwise ocean currents that continuously cycle trapping the garbage. the majority of the garbage is plastic....30 meters deep! the eastern mass is located north of hawaii on the way to california near some islands that house a marine mammal preserve. president bush passed a law last year for the islands to be left alone....but now that more people are finding out about the garbage mass, more people want to be able to investigate it. not much sea life lives around the floating land fill....but many passing fish and birds mistake the floating plastic for food. autopsies of these dead animals show stomachs full of plastic...& those that don't die face many health problems. it also poses problems for people like us that eat the fish that have ingested the plastic. researchers state that it will be almost impossible to clean up the mass messes, but we can cut down the size if we cut down on our use of plastic. i know that it is extremely hard....our society today relies so heavily on plastics...but if you just go out and buy some canvas bags to bring to the grocery store to reuse...you are making an effort! just wanted to make you all aware of this problem. knowledge is power!
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that is crazy!!! i do reuse my plastic grocery bags for peanut's waste, and i wish i could just leave it but the city will fine me! i promise to switch once i can let peanut roam around the yard (once i get a house...??) i will do my best to reduce my plastic use!
yes! ryan and i use cloth bags for groceries...but i must admit, more than half the time we realize we forgot them at home when we are in the checkout line. :(
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