We're all contributing to something horrible!
By guybrush
@guybrush (4658)
Australia
August 11, 2008 8:57pm CST
I was horrified to read in the weekend paper of something called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch - a swirling vortex of trash which is twice the size of the USA and consists of 100 MILLION tons of garbage circulating in a huge patch on either side of the Hawaiian islands. Apparently, all the stuff swept out to sea and dumped off boats, etc., ends up here - described as a living entity which shifts in one huge mass. It's vile to think we humans have caused this - I get angry enough at the streets around me being littered with the wrappings and cups from the fast food restaurant up on the corner - so how terrible should each of us feel to think we could have contributed to this horror? I've attached a link in case anyone is interested in reading more about it - but there are many articles on the same topic, and I think it's something we should all be aware of - and tell our children and grandchildren about.
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/the-worlds-rubbish-dump-a-garbage-tip-that-stretches-from-hawaii-to-japan-778016.html
2 people like this
4 responses
@mands61123 (2098)
•
13 Aug 08
Oh My god thanks for the article i had no idea i try to recycle reuse and be as green as possible but that is just unacceptable. 100 million tons killing such a large amount of wildlife. I only said to my boyfriend the other day that everytime we watched a nature program another animal was becoming extincted. We're just taking this beautiful planet for granted sometimes i wonder if we really deserve it's beauty and at this rate we won't be able to enjoy it much longer!
@mands61123 (2098)
•
8 Sep 08
thanks for the best response hun i've actually forwarded the article on as it shocked me that much. Hopefully it will shock a few more people into realising what we are doing to our beautiful world thanks for the article and making me aware.
1 person likes this
@sugarplum9084 (1771)
• United States
12 Aug 08
Wow, thanks for showing me this. That is just horrible, imagine all the toxicity of the water, and how many creatures die when they are in those waters. That's just disgusting! It's so sad that we just throw dump our garbage into the ocean because it is an easy way to dispose of our junk, though we preach the environment and how to battle global warming and the dying of the oceans, we have big problems to deal with now! 
1 person likes this
@guybrush (4658)
• Australia
12 Aug 08
It IS horrible, sugarplum ... and the plastic is indeed causing vast marine-creature deaths. I also read that some plastics break down into tiny particles which are ingested by fish, and the chemicals eventually end up on our plates when we eat the fish! So our own selfishness is backfiring on us in the long run, as we are contaminating our own food source. Karma.
@sugarplum9084 (1771)
• United States
12 Aug 08
You would think that we would have went in there for grabbing up the plastic to be recycled, that would save soooo much money if we did that. The stuff does not biodegrade easily, so we would have plastic forever. It just blows my mind that we are so smart, yet we are so stupid in knowing how to preserve life, let alone our own lives in the long run. 
1 person likes this
@fulghum16 (90)
• Japan
17 Aug 08
yes, we're all guilty of this. especially of our time that almost everything and everyone depends on technology. we keep on producing and producing non-biodegradable products that most of us doesn't know how to dispose properly. plastics are everywhere. i guess, the least we can do is how we can lessen the usage of these products, proper disposal for recycling, innovating lifestyle by going green and of course spreading and telling people that small changes can make a difference to our dying mother earth.
and yes, please re-use!
