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Continent-size toxic stew of plastic trash fouling swath of Pacific Ocean

post #1 of 15
3/11/10 at 3:35pm
Thread Starter 
Article here. I am not sure how reliable this source is, but it makes me very angry if it is true.
I wonder if anything is more harmful to our planet than the existence of the human race..

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post #2 of 15
3/12/10 at 5:49am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ut0pia View Post
Article here. I am not sure how reliable this source is, but it makes me very angry if it is true.
I wonder if anything is more harmful to our planet than the existence of the human race..
It is true. I believe there is more than one of these "trash islands" floating around our ocean. It is just one more indicator of the destructive capability of the human race.
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post #3 of 15
3/12/10 at 6:03am
I wish we could just drop all our junk into a volcano. Lava melts everything right?
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post #4 of 15
3/12/10 at 6:58am
More info on that topic can be found here, also ---> Great Pacific Garbage Patch

If you are disgusted by that, Google cruise ship waste. All the tourists taking cruises each year are a big contributor to the ocean health problem. Ocean dumping is common place these days.

Quote:
Originally Posted by c1atsite
I wish we could just drop all our junk into a volcano. Lava melts everything right?
Or, how about reducing our waste and making it sustainable, rather than always finding ways of disposing it?

I can't believe how society continues to reward merchants who create garbage and one use products. Swiffer comes to mind as an example.Where is the accountability? Shouldn't we be forcing manufacturers to create less waste and promote reduce-resue-recycle?

Just taking out the blue bin each garbage day is only half the battle.
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post #5 of 15
3/12/10 at 8:07am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Russian Blue View Post
If you are disgusted by that, Google cruise ship waste. All the tourists taking cruises each year are a big contributor to the ocean health problem. Ocean dumping is common place these days.
Actually, if you read the original article, it says that ships are responsible for very little of the trash, and that the vast majority is from land sources.
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post #6 of 15
3/12/10 at 8:45am
Outlaw plastic bags and disposable diapers, that would help immensely.

Go back to fining people for littering.

Make recycling mandatory.

Make ALL packaging biodegradeable.

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post #7 of 15
3/12/10 at 9:08am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mrblanche View Post
Actually, if you read the original article, it says that ships are responsible for very little of the trash, and that the vast majority is from land sources.
I should have been more clear in my original statement. I didn't mean that cruise ships were responsible for solid waste, more the blackwater/greywater and some hazardous waste that also makes its way into the ocean.

Either way, the oceans are (and will be) the dumping grounds for human consumption.
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post #8 of 15
3/12/10 at 2:49pm
I'd like to see an increase in biodegradable or environmentally inert packaging. Glass bottles are very reusable, and if they make it into the ocean, they are in effect just a funny-shaped rock.

Paper, too, is very easy to deal with in an environmentally friendly way (I don't mean recycling--it turns out that recycling uses more energy than making new for everything except aluminum cans--but what works really well is to shred it and bury it in the backyard or throw it in the compost heap), and if it gets into the ocean, it just gets soggy and breaks down--of course we shouldn't deal with all our paper that way, but nature can handle a little bit.
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post #9 of 15
3/12/10 at 4:23pm
While I don't have the numbers here in front of me, I seem to remember that all the American qualified cruise ships on all the seven seas put less pollution in the oceans than the city of Seattle does in one day.

They HAVE been working hard to comply with even the most stringent rules. The words there in italics are very important, however.
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post #10 of 15
3/14/10 at 7:22am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Russian Blue View Post
Or, how about reducing our waste and making it sustainable, rather than always finding ways of disposing it?

I can't believe how society continues to reward merchants who create garbage and one use products. Swiffer comes to mind as an example.Where is the accountability? Shouldn't we be forcing manufacturers to create less waste and promote reduce-resue-recycle?
For those that asked, there are floating garbage piles all over. The one in the Pacific is the largest.

I saw a commercial last night for another swiffer type product. You can now buy an electrified steam cleaner for your floors. You could launder the mop head, but what of the electricity you are using and what do you do with it when it breaks? My comment to DH - What ever happened to a good old fashioned mop, or even a bucket and a rag? Granted, I no longer wash my floors on my hands and knees (my knees are bad), but I buy mop heads made out of environmentally friendly materials.

Other than litter, our weekly garbage consists of 1 small bag, and I'm sure we could find ways of getting that down to a bag every other week if we tried harder. We don't even buy garbage bags anymore - large pet food bags work great for garbage.

There are so many creative ways to recycle things if you stop and think about it. Freecycle, Craigslist,ebay and second hand stores are great sources to recycle any usable item.
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post #11 of 15
3/15/10 at 10:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Momofmany View Post
We don't even buy garbage bags anymore - large pet food bags work great for garbage.
I knew I couldn't be the only one that does this! I can't stand spending money on garbage bags; they're so expensive for something that by definition you can only use once, especially when I can re-use a grocery bag for free (still not environmentally ideal, obviously, but at least it's two uses instead of one). BF thinks I'm crazy for this.

You know what I think is just about the dumbest thing ever? Plastic leaf bags. Start with something that's perfectly natural (the leaves) and wrap it up in non-biodegradable plastic before throwing it away, to make sure it won't compost right in the landfill even if it does end up on the top level...yeah...that makes sense. Why aren't leaf bags at least made out of paper? Even better (and funnier) would be some kind of shredded pressed leaf product, so they really would be leaf bags.
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post #12 of 15
3/15/10 at 11:59am
I use a Shark Steam Pocket to clean my tile floors, my entire house is tile floors except for the bedrooms. It uses distilled water and no chemicals.
Vacumn's use electricity also.
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post #13 of 15
3/15/10 at 12:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ckblv View Post
I use a Shark Steam Pocket to clean my tile floors, my entire house is tile floors except for the bedrooms. It uses distilled water and no chemicals.
Vacumn's use electricity also.
I've had my steam cleaner for over ten years, Cindy (a Kärcher), and I clean everything with it - floors (hard floors throughout the house), living room rug, bathroom, windows, oven, kitchen cabinets and counters, and, and, and. No chemicals, and I take the distilled water from my non-vented dryer. I "recycle" old washcloths and hand towels for use with it.
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post #14 of 15
3/16/10 at 12:03am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jcat View Post
I've had my steam cleaner for over ten years, Cindy (a Kärcher),
Do you have the special Kärcher iron and ironing board? I saw a video for it on the internet. So cool.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ebrillblaiddes View Post
You know what I think is just about the dumbest thing ever? Plastic leaf bags. Start with something that's perfectly natural (the leaves) and wrap it up in non-biodegradable plastic before throwing it away, to make sure it won't compost right in the landfill even if it does end up on the top level...yeah...that makes sense. Why aren't leaf bags at least made out of paper?
That's interesting but I believe it's just a name thing. Those "lawn and leaf bags" you're talking about give the buyer a visual to indicate the bag is larger than a large kitchen garbage bag and the next step up is a "contractor clean-up bag" which also gives a visual like "hey I'm even bigger". (Folks can just go by the gallon, e.g., 13 gallon, 33 gallon, etc., etc. but I guess the names are easier for some people)

Quote:
Originally Posted by ebrillblaiddes View Post
I can re-use a grocery bag for free (still not environmentally ideal, obviously, but at least it's two uses instead of one). BF thinks I'm crazy for this.
I re-use grocery bags to line very small trashcans. That's why I'm against any push to ban them.
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post #15 of 15
3/16/10 at 1:18pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by c1atsite View Post
Do you have the special Kärcher iron and ironing board? I saw a video for it on the internet. So cool.
The iron came with the steam cleaner, but not the ironing board. I very rarely iron anything, but the iron is terrific.

I don't really see the steam cleaner as so eco-unfriendly in view of the absence of chemicals. I do the dusting, vacuuming, etc. first, and then go through the house with the steam cleaner so that I only have to heat it up once. To save money, I also use it on weekends, when electricity costs 15% less than on weekdays.
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TheCatSite.com › Forums › General Forums › IMO: In My Opinion › Continent-size toxic stew of plastic trash fouling swath of Pacific Ocean