Have you ever heard of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch ? It’s believed to be the world’s largest dump. Plastic debris from the world over makes its way into waterways, where it’s carried out to sea and trapped in swirling ocean currents, thereby forming a trash dump in the North Pacific that’s twice the size of Texas. Even Oprah’s talking about it !
Think that doesn’t affect you? About 46,000 pieces of plastic litter are floating in every square mile of ocean. Up to one million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals and sea turtles worldwide die each year from eating plastic. When two scientists in the Pacific caught a commercially harvested fish and cut it open, they found 17 pieces of plastic inside. We need to educate people are the very real consequences of our addiction to throw-away plastic. Captain Charle’s Moore, who confirmed the phenomenon in a 1977 sailing expedition, will begin more intense voyage in June, to further his research and help build awareness of this issue, according to the Huffinton Post.
So what can we do? For individuals, it comes down to the basics, the 3 R’s: reduce, reuse, recycle (in that order). We also need to educate others about the problems with wasteful plastic, by passing on research, tips & information like this article: Giant Pacific Trash Dump is bad – but you can make it better .
Bringing reusable bags is one way to save the planet from being consumed by waste and save us from literally consuming our own waste.
Plastic bags on land photodegrade, resulting in microscopic pieces of plastic that pollute soil and groundwater long after the litter becomes invisible to the eye. Our own plastic waste, and the toxins it concentrates, has officially entered our food chain via the foods we eat.
The best thing you can do is take ownership of the amount of plastic waste you create and work to reduce it. How? Use reusable bags at every opportunity. Many stores sell custom imprinted reusable bags with their logo and give discounts when you use them.
Always forgetting to bring your bags?
- Ask the kids to remind you to bring your bags as part of earning their allowance.
- Hang the bags next to the door.
- Item #1 on shopping list: REMEMBER BAGS.
- Store bags in your vehicle.
- After you unpack your groceries, return the bags to your vehicle.
- Store a bag in your desk at work.
- Purchase a few compact reusable bags you can keep in your purse, jacket pocket, backpack or briefcase
