Wednesday, May 21, 2008

A Sea of Synthetic Trash

This article (by Canadian Globe and Mail...be proud, Deb!) is mind boggling. It is about plastics and trash that float to one particular place in the Pacific Ocean due to winds and currents: This plastic soup, with billions of tiny shards of the synthetic material floating just below the surface of the water, is estimated to span an area 1½ times the size of the continental United States. This is beyond what I ever imagined in a very devastating way. I'm not posting this article to bring people down, but to give them encouragement. At the end of the article, there are ways we can help reduce trash. There are ways that plastic can be recycled and ways that plastic can be made out of biodegradable materials such as orange peels, etc. We as a people have the smarts to help ourselves from this becoming a bigger problem. We just need to act and be aware of it...that's why I'm posting this. It's information I want to remember as I come upon a balloon on the beach and teach Jilliann to pick it up, or reach for that Styrofoam cup, or use plastic to store my food in. Plastic has amazing capabilities in negative and positive ways. It's wild...read on and be shocked.

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