OK, so this is about the most frightening thing I have ever heard of! I was out for dinner with a colleague and he mentioned this huge swath of plastic garbage in the Pacific somewhere between the North American Mainland and Hawaii.
A sailor chose to head into an area that most captains don’t traverse since it is known for doldrums (no winds) when he came across a sea of plastic garbage floating on the ocean.
OK, so that’s bad, right?
Well, it has been estimated to be twice the size of Texas!
There is a full story here: Best Life Magazine Our Plastic Ocean
When we sailed in Greece a few years back, we joked that the greatest hazard we found was the plastic garbage in the sea near Athens. I had no idea that things were so bad, but this only serves to highlight what we have done to the environment.
Plastics revolutionized the world, will they ultimately also destroy it? It is an impossible product to get away from. Yes, shunning plastic bags is a start, but just look around our homes and its overwhelming. Everything from your groceries to your computer are packed in plastic.
Can we ever clean up our mess?
9 comments
A sad scene indeed – but a beautifully taken photo – its pretty bad here to, but honestly can I see part of a plastic chair? The guy who invented plastic has an awful lot to answer to. Great "environmental" shot, Paige.
The ubiquitous plastic chair…yes…I hadn’t thought of it. You can go pretty much anywhere in the world and find them. They were on the boat I was on in Brazil…we even saw them 300 miles up the Amazon in a small village!!!
Check it out:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/02/04/features/design5.php
There is even a Flickr group dedicated to them!!
http://www.flickr.com/groups/those-white-plastic-chairs/
Check it out:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/02/04/features/design5.php
There is even a Flickr group dedicated to them!!
http://www.flickr.com/groups/those-white-plastic-chairs/
How sad, strange about the chairs!
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Seen on your photo stream. (?)
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Seen on your photo stream. (?)
I have been there with the bag round the prop so many times…… Here plastic bags hang on trees like strange fruit. Well done in rejecting them – I do this also – In Ireland bags are taxed and just a few cents has made lots of people think and re-cycle.
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