The World's Largest Garbage Dump

[ScummyD]

And it's probably not located where you may think.



THE GREAT PACIFIC GARBAGE PATCH (http://www.greatgarbagepatch.org/)

Wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacific_Garbage_Patch)

Stop Polluting Our Ocean

Much of our waste today is comprised of plastic that does not biodegrade. This waste accumulates in swirling seas of debris, where plastic to sea life ratios are 6:1; where birds and mammals are dying of starvation and dehydration with bellies full plastics; and fish are ingesting toxins at such a rate that soon they will no longer be safe to eat.

The largest of these garbage swills is known as the Pacific Gyre, or: The Great Garbage Patch.

It is roughly the size of Texas, containing approximately 3.5 million tons of trash. Shoes, toys, bags, pacifers, wrappers, toothbrushes, and bottles too numerous to count are only part of what can be found in this accidental dump floating midway between Hawaii and San Francisco.

Amazingly, there is no effort underway to clean the mess. Join our forum with your ideas and suggestions, and most importantly - spread the word!
:(

[bowerbird]

There is a big push here to get rid of plastic bags from shops - go back to string bags etc. We have clean up days and societies that help keep our beaches clean.

[ScummyD]

That's good to hear. I hope the lack of response to this thread is not due to a lack of concern. Although, I'm not too sure what we can do about it. It is a world problem and not just solely crap from the U.S. or even North America.

I was surprised to find about this (last night while doing some research) being a life long beach goer and lover of the ocean. Being from Santa Barbara, a city with a long history of environmental activism, I can't believe I never heard about it.

I hope at the very least I brought it to the attention of others that may not have known.

[Sgt Schultz]

That's good to hear. I hope the lack of response to this thread is not due to a lack of concern. Although, I'm not too sure what we can do about it. It is a world problem and not just solely crap from the U.S. or even North America.

I was surprised to find about this (last night while doing some research) being a life long beach goer and lover of the ocean. Being from Santa Barbara, a city with a long history of environmental activism, I can't believe I never heard about it.

I hope at the very least I brought it to the attention of others that may not have known.

Sorry Scummy I didn't see the thread until just a few minutes ago.

I've read about this before, it is sad, and you're exactly right; it is a world problem. You're also right in that no one is quite sure what to do about it. I grew up in Oregon and spent a lot of my youth on the coast. The amount of crap that washed ashore then (70s/80s) was staggering. I can only imagine how bad it is now, and in that floating pile of plastic in the Pacific. Maybe someone should start harvesting it for recycling.

[eugene40]

I read about this a couple of months ago. And then immediately looked for a foundation to donate too. There isn't many so I just donated again to the Surfrider Foundation.

Hopefully that thread that was on here a couple of weeks ago where the kid found some bacteria that will eat and dissolve plastics will soon become viable and have somewhere where people can donate money. Because if and when it does, this should be the first priority. It is disappointing that we as a people are capable of this. We have the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico, we have this which is the size of freaking texas and I am sure is only growing. I mean do we as a people honestly lack this much forethought.

I tend to not take plastic bags or those little bottles of water, I usually carry a bunch of cloth ones in my trunk and a few nalgene .

[AgentM]

Wow, that sucks. Most grocery stores here have bins where you can return plastic bags for recycling. Also, along with the regular municipal blue box recycling programs we have community run programs for things that aren't accepted by regular recycling. It's not a permanent solution, but it helps. I'm a big fan of recycling and those types of things, I was raised with it, but not everybody does it as much as they could. I do indeed hope that that kid's bacteria discovery comes to fruition soon!

One thing that pissed me off is that apparently here in Canada many lakes are being quietly re-zoned to become new garbage dumps. I mean, ***!?

[ScummyD]

Maybe someone should start harvesting it for recycling.
Yeah, we have to do something.

It is an interesting phenomenon, though. Kind of like a giant swirling toilet bowl. Unfortunately, of course it just never finishes with a flush and everything just stays there. Can you imagine what it will be like in another ten or twenty years if the problem is not addressed? Geez, it will only grow. What a thought.

[AgentM]

Yeah, we have to do something.

It is an interesting phenomenon, though. Kind of like a giant swirling toilet bowl. Unfortunately, of course it just never finishes with a flush and everything just stays there. Can you imagine what it will be like in another ten or twenty years if the problem is not addressed? Geez, it will only grow. What a thought.

Funny, never really pictured you as an environmentalist Scummy.

[ScummyD]

I read about this a couple of months ago. And then immediately looked for a foundation to donate too. There isn't many so I just donated again to the Surfrider Foundation.
Good for you. I don't have much to give monetarily right now, so apart from a small token donation I will have to try a different route. I'm sending out queries to publications to see about getting some articles published to at least get the word out as much as possible.

We have the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico,
More devastation. Sad. I started a thread (http://www.whistlestopper.com/forum/showthread.php?t=64242) on that awhile back. Unfortunately, the Gulf of Mexico is not the only place where that is happening.

we have this which is the size of freaking texas and I am sure is only growing. I mean do we as a people honestly lack this much forethought.
This is like the ultimate out of sight out of mind. Way out on the middle of the ocean where nobody goes.

I tend to not take plastic bags or those little bottles of water, I usually carry a bunch of cloth ones in my trunk and a few nalgene .
Yeah, I have quite a few nalgene bottles, as well. And I use very very few plastic water bottles and try not to ever buy them. I do only if I have no other option.

All this brings to mind a song by one of my favorite bands, Bad Religion.
Unacceptable

irreducible is the word for today
plastic compounds and nuclear waste
what the hell is the matter with the people on this planet? have we all gone insane?
the stigma of industrial progress killing us over and over again
one part per trillion . . . unacceptable
one part per billion . . . unacceptable
one part per million . . . unacceptable
this mammoth pogrom set upon courtesy of the U.S.A

inexcusable are the men before our time
I'd like to kick their *** for what they left behind
cancer-causing chemicals
ozone-depleting aerosols
we're all going to fry
so put your head between your legs
and kiss your *** goodbye.
Righteous indignation.

[ScummyD]

Funny, never really pictured you as an environmentalist Scummy.
Well, my friend, I am not an environmentalist. I am a conservationist.;)

I am not religious. But I consider Nature my God.

[ScummyD]

One thing that pissed me off is that apparently here in Canada many lakes are being quietly re-zoned to become new garbage dumps. I mean, ***!?
Geezus. Like a city, these people never sleep do they? It's a constant battle just to be able to live in a semi-clean environment. I'm so pissed off at those people that came before me and fouled things up so badly and I HATE those pieces of **** that are doing it today.

I was walking up the trail from fishing the beach early yesterday morning ( I got up at 4:30 in the morning and drove 1.5 hours to go surf a good south swell spot and then fished the coastline on my back down.) and there was trash strewn all over the place. Taco Bell and McDonalds packaging, beer cans, bags, old helium balloons, deflated beach balls; a seemingly endless list of debris. It makes me literally want to beat the **** out of people. I do confront fools if I see them trashing the beach. And I don't take it lightly.

[eugene40]

Good for you. I don't have much to give monetarily right now, so apart from a small token donation I will have to try a different route. I'm sending out queries to publications to see about getting some articles published to at least get the word out as much as possible.
Yea I have been very fortunate in my investments and stocks and I figure if you have it, you might as well try to do some good with it. Plus I am a surfer and I believe we need to keep our oceans clean. Heading to Hawaii next month for vacation and I am hoping to try out my new ankles on some surf.


This is like the ultimate out of sight out of mind. Way out on the middle of the ocean where nobody goes.
THe seat is the Universal Sewer - Cousteau


Yeah, I have quite a few nalgene bottles, as well. And I use very very few plastic water bottles and try not to ever buy them. I do only if I have no other option.
The water where I live is horrible tasting, I have my own little filtration system for my house and keep a couple of gallons always in the back of my truck and car and a bunch of empty nalgenes in there too just in case.


All this brings to mind a song by one of my favorite bands, Bad Religion.
Unacceptable

irreducible is the word for today
plastic compounds and nuclear waste
what the hell is the matter with the people on this planet? have we all gone insane?
the stigma of industrial progress killing us over and over again
one part per trillion . . . unacceptable
one part per billion . . . unacceptable
one part per million . . . unacceptable
this mammoth pogrom set upon courtesy of the U.S.A

inexcusable are the men before our time
I'd like to kick their *** for what they left behind
cancer-causing chemicals
ozone-depleting aerosols
we're all going to fry
so put your head between your legs
and kiss your *** goodbye.
Righteous indignation.


Good song, and damn if they aren't right.

[eugene40]

Well, my friend, I am not an environmentalist. I am a conservationist.;)

I am not religious. But I consider Nature my God.

Plus he is a surfer. All surfers no matter where they are from have a relationship with the Ocean and the Beaches and can't stand people trashing either.

[USA-1]

.

. Being from Santa Barbara, a city with a long history of environmental activism, I can't believe I never heard about it.
.

Since you are one that could be affected most, what's your opinion on drilling oil off the California coast? Will it happen?

[Mirror Lake 444]

Don't forget we are overharvesting the fish in our oceans at a phenomenal rate.

[USA-1]

Well, my friend, I am not an environmentalist. I am a conservationist.;)
.

Environmentalism is a broad philosophy and social movement centered on a concern for the conservation and improvement of the natural environment.


I am both. You probably are too.

[ScummyD]

Environmentalism is a broad philosophy and social movement centered on a concern for the conservation and improvement of the natural environment.


I am both. You probably are too.
I was going to add to my comment and say that it was my self-described title. Because it naturally depends on people's personal views.

I associate environmentalism with an extremist sentiment which I do not like to include myself as being a part of.

For example, environmentalists advocate using used socks as reusable women's sanitary napkins. Whereas a conservationist would likely recognize the underlying problem such a proposal springs from, but advocate a less nutty, more realistic course of action to address it.

[ScummyD]

Don't forget we are overharvesting the fish in our oceans at a phenomenal rate.
Fifty years ago a person could swim out 20 or 30 yards from shore in my home town and pull three foot lobsters from the reef with little effort (apart form the battle of wrestling with a three foot bug with gnarly spines and that bites). Now it is work to get 10 inchers and even then you are lucky to get that. And this is in Santa Barbara which has one of the world's richest and most heavily regulated/protected fisheries.

You are right. And it sucks.

[AgentM]

Well, my friend, I am not an environmentalist. I am a conservationist.;)

I am not religious. But I consider Nature my God.

Fair enough. I think that, regardless of where we stand politically, protecting the environment is something that everyone can agree on. Where we differ is methods.

[ScummyD]

Since you are one that could be affected most, what's your opinion on drilling oil off the California coast? Will it happen?

There are a number of oil derricks out in the Channel already and they have been there a long time. Apart from being somewhat of an eye sore on what is otherwise an incredible environmental scene, they do little damage as far as I know. The world's second largest natural seep is not far from where I am right now and it spills more tar and oil and natural gas into the water than all the derricks combined.

Depending on how the product was handled with respect to where it went and how it was used I would be all for more drilling. I mentioned in some odd thread here a few weeks ago. And this is coming from a life long surfer that pretty much worships the beach. My step dad was an sea urchin diver and is a surfer. My biological dad was a deep seas diver as was his dad. I have many friends that are surfers, fishermen running commercial operations, running charter services, and are commercial divers and recreational divers. Life here revolves around the sea. But I would be for more drilling.

Recently a leading environmental group that had always opposed drilling has struck a deal with an oil and gas company to tap new supplies as long as the effort ends by some date a few decades from now.

So I think that there is a chance that new exploration and drilling could happen. Although also recently an offshore gas platform just down the coast was rejected by citizens and it would only be visible from shore on the most clear days it was so far out to sea. So, who knows. But at the same time a leading company around here, Veneco, has poured millions and millions of dollars into community charities and things to better the local scene with respect to education and health care and such. So I do think there is definitely a chance for increased drilling. It is certainly not facing as stiff of opposition as it had ever since the large oil spill here in '69, which served as a leading, if not the sole trigger for the creation of Earth Day.

[ScummyD]

An animated site showing how the gyre works:

http://oceans.greenpeace.org/en/the-expedition/news/trashing-our-oceans/ocean_pollution_animation

[ScummyD]

A dead Albatross with a gut full of plastic of the type found swirling in the Great Pacific Garbage Dump.

http://www.mindfully.org/Plastic/Ocean/Sea-Plastic-LN-PG5oct05a.jpg

These birds are obviously not too bright. I mean, look at the amount of plastic in what was that dead bird's belly. But that's not to take away from the fault of humanity.

[ScummyD]

Plague of Plastic Chokes the Seas

On Midway Atoll, 40% of albatross chicks die, their bellies full of trash. Swirling masses of drifting debris pollute remote beaches and snare wildlife.

LA Times (http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/great-pacific-garbage-patch-1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://science.howstuffworks.com/great-pacific-garbage-patch.htm&h=365&w=400&sz=27&tbnid=GALmVuYOK1gJ::&tbnh=113&tbnw=124&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dgreat%2Bpacific%2Bgarbage%2Bpatch&hl=en&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=1&ct=image&cd=1)
Ain't that nice.

[ScummyD]

Marine Debris Research, Prevention, and Reduction Act

On December 22, 2006, President Bush signed into law the Marine Debris Research, Prevention, and Reduction Act, which legally establishes the NOAA Marine Debris Program. The Act sets a $10M authorization for NOAA for implementation of the program, including mapping, identification, and impact assessments, removal and prevention activities, research and development of alternatives to gear posing threats to the marine environment, and outreach activities. The Act also re-establishes the Interagency Marine Debris Coordinating Committee which NOAA co-chairs. This committee reports to the Subcommittee on Integrated Management of Ocean Resources (SIMOR) within the new ocean governance structure.

NOAA (http://marinedebris.noaa.gov/about/act.html)

[USA-1]

Aren't you the same guy that wants hundreds of offshore oil rigs right off your coast? Add some oil to that garbage and you will really have a mess.

[prst31]

I've heard the cruise ships dump it.

[ScummyD]

Most of it is swept off the mainland, actually. Watercourses like the Los Angeles river pour tens of thousands of pounds into the ocean. They find fluorescent light tubes, TVs, billiard balls, soccer balls, kid toys, toothbrushes, and a slew of other peculiar things floating 500 to 1000 miles off the coast of California.

[ScummyD]

Aren't you the same guy that wants hundreds of offshore oil rigs right off your coast?
I have stated that I support increased drilling offshore here, but have never put a number on desired rigs.

Add some oil to that garbage and you will really have a mess.
Through accidental spills, yes, but we are talking here about something much different. When is the last time a spill occurred off the coast here in Santa Barbara County?

Furthermore, there is no logic to your comment. Just because I support drilling doesn't mean I have to accept plastic in the ocean.

[ScummyD]

The latest article:

Aug. 6, 2008

Hidden, a 3.5 Million Trash Heap Lies in the Ocean

The Great Pacific Garbage Dump Stretches From California to China

The world's largest trash dump doesn't sit on some barren field outside an urban center. It resides thousands of miles from any land — in the Pacific Ocean.

Bottle caps, soap bottles, laundry baskets and shards of plastic are just a few things that float in the ocean's vastness. Known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, the "dump" is composed mainly of plastic, which isn't biodegradable.

Instead, the plastic breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces in the patch that extends thousands of miles, from California's coast to China.

Charles Moore, who discovered the trash heap by accident in 1997 when he was sailing the Pacific, collects samples of the growing garbage bin. Some of his samples have contained six times more plastic than plankton.
ABC (http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=5524886&page=1)

[ScummyD]

Thu Aug 7

WASHINGTON - Two years ago with fanfare, President Bush declared a remote chain of Hawaiian islands the biggest, most environmentally protected area of ocean in the world.

It hasn't worked out that way.

Cleanup efforts have slowed, garbage is still piling up and Bush has cut his budget request by 80 percent.

. . .

Ocean currents are still bringing an estimated 57 tons of garbage and discarded fishing gear to the 10 islands and the waters surrounding them each year.

. . .

And the Bush administration slashed the debris cleanup budget from the $2.1 million spent in 2005, requesting only $400,000 a year through 2008.

AP (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/bush_marine_debris)

[USA-1]

. When is the last time a spill occurred off the coast here in Santa Barbara County?

.

I thought offshore drilling was banned off the coast of Santa Barbara County? Can't spill if you don't drill.
For offshore drilling to have any significant effect on oil supplies at all there has to be hundreds of new off shore platforms. i wonder how you will feel when a spill ruins the very beaches you cherish?

[prst31]

Most of it is swept off the mainland, actually. Watercourses like the Los Angeles river pour tens of thousands of pounds into the ocean. They find fluorescent light tubes, TVs, billiard balls, soccer balls, kid toys, toothbrushes, and a slew of other peculiar things floating 500 to 1000 miles off the coast of California.Huh...doesn't it rain about once a year? But it's funny you should mention that. One of friends moved out there and works installing and maintaining some sort of filter screens in the storm sewer drain inlets. Apparently they don't work so well?

[ScummyD]

Huh...doesn't it rain about once a year? But it's funny you should mention that.
I've heard of rain. Sounds interesting.

One of friends moved out there and works installing and maintaining some sort of filter screens in the storm sewer drain inlets. Apparently they don't work so well?

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_UK95fsAAirE/SJzzuOZyA2I/AAAAAAAAAEY/4EivnEe6dgw/s400/Los+Angeles+River+Trash.JPG
Algalita Marine Research Foundation

The Los Angeles River during winter probably after a few big storms dumped a lot of rain.

The worst are "nurdles." The tiny little bits of plastic that are used to make products of plastic. These little balls of plastic get spilled during transit and wash into storm drains and out into the ocean. Some samples around Southern California show a 2:1 plastic to plankton ration. It inevitably just becomes dust and we can't see it.

But plastic never goes away. It's forever.

[ScummyD]

I thought offshore drilling was banned off the coast of Santa Barbara County? Can't spill if you don't drill.
lol You didn't read my post on that matter I guess. It must of been in another thread.

There are several platforms in these waters. And the majority of the tar, oil, and natural gas spillage is actually naturally occurring seepage.

[USA-1]

lol You didn't read my post on that matter I guess. It must of been in another thread.

There are several platforms in these waters. And the majority of the tar, oil, and natural gas spillage is actually naturally occurring seepage.

So there are platforms producing oil off the coast of California? I really did think all offshore was banned on the California coast.

If all restrictions are lifted and dozens or hundreds of new offshore rigs are producing in California the odds of a spill that does damage the shoreline rise exponentialy. Just so you are aware of that and willing to risk it to save 3 cents a gallon.

[ScummyD]

So there are platforms producing oil off the coast of California? I really did think all offshore was banned on the California coast.
Yeah, there are. There is one off of Coal Oil Point and four, I think it is, straight out from the harbor here about three miles, where go out to catch rock fish when nothing else is biting.

If all restrictions are lifted and dozens or hundreds of new offshore rigs are producing in California the odds of a spill that does damage the shoreline rise exponentialy. Just so you are aware of that and willing to risk it to save 3 cents a gallon.
I am aware, as far as increased risk of a spill is concerned. But your 3 cents bit is nothing but a wild guess.

[USA-1]

I am aware, as far as increased risk of a spill is concerned. But your 3 cents bit is nothing but a wild guess.

Yeah, you are right. My estimate may be a little high. It might have zero effect on the price of gas.

[ScummyD]

So between 0 and 3?