Go Green: Eco-Voyagers Take on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

And the award for green cause of the year goes to . . . the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. After decades of anonymity, the floating trash pile located midway between California and Hawaii had a breakout 2009—luring news crews, a trio aboard a raft made of junk, a zero-impact rower, and some hipsters from Vice magazine. Oh, and it was featured on Oprah. But most of the coverage (even you, Oprah) failed to ask one rather important question: Now that we know it’s out there, what do we do about it?

“It’s an impossible cleanup job,” says Captain Charles Moore, who first sailed through the Patch in 1997 after a yacht race to Hawaii and has studied the site since. The Patch’s 3.5 million tons of trash and tiny plastic particles extend a hundred feet below the surface. Any cleanup, Moore says, would harm plankton and other small marine life—that is, if we use current disposal methods.

This past summer, a team aboard the schooner Kaisei experimented with ways to capture, clean, and recycle the plastic bits into diesel fuel, with limited success. Another proposal would utilize a giant floating artificial beach to scoop up and filter the junk. But an immediate solution seems unlikely. “Look, I’m all for cleanup,” says David de Rothschild, an NG Emerging Explorer who plans to sail to the Garbage Patch in the Plastiki, a ship made of plastic bottles (read blog dispatches here). “But 70 percent of all marine plastics are at the bottom of the ocean, and we dump eight million tons more into the sea each year. It’s pushing water uphill to try to clean up this mess.” The best way to eliminate oceanic garbage, de Rothschild argues, is to keep it on land: “The Plastiki is about turning something we’re told is a throwaway into a valuable commodity. If people change the way they see plastic, they may stop tossing the stuff.”
 —Text by Ryan Bradley; Illustration by Matthew Hollister

Comments

[cheap car insurance for young drivers]

Product Manager for the EDU channels. He gives us an overview of the news channel for teachers.

[sabfx poker tips]

I love wild game for the simple fact that I love to eat healthy, high-quality food. But there’s an added element that wild game carries with it: the adventures that went into harvesting and preparing it.

[interlocking mats]

He knew my brother. On our first meeting we were really understanding each other. We had a nice rapport. And he was like, 'yeah.

[sleep number m7 bed]

It is the most amazing article ever read on this earth. Guess what!!! Today for the first time I read your article and in one shot I liked your article and the way you write.

[Land For Sale]

Any cleanup, Moore says, would harm plankton and other small marine life—that is, if we use current disposal methods.

[traductor paginas web]

There’s a point in every trip when I start to sense the finish. On trips of less than a month, I usually sense it from the start—I know about how long the trip will take and I often have concrete plans post-trip.

[escort roma]

His plan is to take stock of the wildlife with the help of Biosphere Expeditions, which will send travelers to Rigg’s outpost for the first time this winter.

[debt consolidation]

Any cleanup, Moore says, would harm plankton and other small marine life—that is, if we use current disposal methods.

[tapetes antiestáticos]

Overall, the effects of an oil spill depend on a variety of factors, including the weather and other environmental conditions, the composition of the oil and how close it gets to shore.

[selo bania]

This is good idea to write about. Nobody cares about all this trash out there.

[Land for sale]

when we suggerate also to make a scan, they refused even that was not worth it, they would not even talk about it …

[Online Bookmarks]

I’ve just lately started a personal site, the data you posted on this site has helped me tremendously. I want to thank you for your entire time and work.

[tribute-credit-card]

For me it's not hard to do recycling. It's for the nature.

[g-star pull]

En tout cas bravo pour le titre accrocheur, j’ai sursauté de ma chaise tout de suite! Enfin un concept qui sort de l’ordinaire, même si l’éthique du marketeur (ou référenceur) est tout de même importante sur ce sujet…Allez, je vais quand même testé pour six liens, c’est intéressant. Merci de cette information, de qualité :-)

[everest base camp trekking]

This post has somewhat created an awareness on the great pacific garbage patch.

[polarised sunglasses]

Pilings of trashes in ocean can be best remove by using above methods I agreed. But is it necessary to wait first people make that dirt in it then you start your job. I thing the better way is to stop them. But The question is how?

[turtle ridge homes]

The best way to eliminate oceanic garbage, de Rothschild argues, is to keep it on land

[newport beach chiropractor]

But most of the coverage (even you, Oprah) failed to ask one rather important question: Now that we know it’s out there, what do we do about it?

[rent a car Switzerland]

I hope that more people will use these products to protect nature!

[Psychologist Perth]

I hope a solution can be found soon.

[ferragamo shoes]

the information of this post is very relevant
for what i am looking for, thank you so much for sharing this one

[Penis Enlargement]

I am thoroughly convinced in this said post. I am currently searching for ways in which I could enhance my knowledge in this said topic you have posted here. It does help me a lot knowing that you have shared this information here freely. I love the way the people here interact and shared their opinions too. I would love to track your future posts pertaining to the said topic we are able to read.

[Nike Air Jordans]

Wow an interesting model. Thank you for sharing.

[Restroom Supplies]

Exactly Kelly. But the fact is, sooner or later we will ALL have to deal with it. I'm switching over to biodegradable restroom supplies. My brother's cafe already uses biodegradable food service supplies. If we all did little things like that we'd be a heck of a lot better off.

[christian louboutin]

The solution is to reduce our consumption of plastics and find plastic-free alternatives. I have been doing just that for the past 2-1/2 years, and in 2009 my plastic consumption was less than 4% of the U.S. average.