Pacific Trash Vortex! Wow! I had no idea it was this bad!
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Wow I had never even heard of this until now...unreal!
It's clearly a serious situation and needs attention. Please tell others about this and maybe something will begin to change. Because if you don't think it's a problem today, one day you will realize that it is a problem and it could be too late at that point to help. Personally, I already believe it's true so I don't need any more convincing. I would like to see people educated on this issue and trained to conscientiously avoid using so much plastic. It won't happen overnight but it could start happening right this second. Here's a thought...We should all write a petition to Costco and Walmart for starters. We could ask them to change their plastics policy to help with our concerns. Maybe get them to get on the bandwagon with us and start a revolution for sustainable plastics (whatever that means). More corporations would follow and it would make a difference. We already have a bunch of stores giving credits for not taking their bags (Safeway does this here on Maui) and Longs sells reuseable bags and people are using them. Maybe give the stores the info about the problem we are tackling and they will see it as a good PR move. They can afford to advertise it and give it attention all the while looking like the good guy. I think it's an easy sell to these guys. That's where a lot of this plastic is coming from anyway.
Did you finally get it? The trash is not God, therefore I must see it to believe it.
Do you have to personally see everything to "believe" in it? I've only read a few of your arguments in this thread and find you rather unbelievable. I guess that's because I haven't "seen" you myself!
There is certainly plenty of evidence that this trash vortex exists. What will it take for you to accept it? If you are not willing to travel there yourself to confirm or deny its existence, I think you have to rely on the evidence presented by those who have. Otherwise you have no personal credibility on the issue.
Jack Burton: When some wild-eyed, eight-foot-tall maniac grabs your neck, taps the back of your favorite head up against the barroom wall, looks you crooked in the eye and asks you if ya paid your dues, you just stare that big sucker right back in the eye, and you remember what ol' Jack Burton always says at a time like that: "Have ya paid your dues, Jack?" "Yessir, the check is in the mail."
Crazy stuff - it's the segment called Garbage Patch.
That's awesome Sparhawk. That's called AWARENESS and it's how things like this spread. It was my intention of this post to raise awareness. Now you know and you will be tuned in and you will see more signs. That's how it works. It's hapening with other people too. The problem may not be at epidemic proportions and viewable from space...YET. But it is clear to me that in a very short time at the rate we're adding to it, it won't be long before it is unstoppable and then it will be too late. I think we all agree that we're already in trouble with our fish stocks worldwide. A big sore spot in the ocean like this will surely affect the entire world in the not so distant future. Look what we were able to do in just 60 or 70 years...that's only one lifetime out of millions that have been here before. We are fouling the water, simple as that and we need to stop. Starting right now. Go get your reusable shopping bags and start telling people why you use them. They will catch on and other things will come from it. Just watch. It seems like such a simple thing to do and that it is small and insignificant but when everyone knows why we are trying to cut back on plastic they will be more likely to participate in the cause themselves.
Great thread - size matters even with the bashing banter back and forth like Drew mentioned.
I love the creative ideas posted on how to remove the trash, no matter what level of infeasability. Bizarre ideas often lead to real solutions.
I love the barge idea with the onboard recycle plant and Doug's idea of recycling into floats.
But I have the ultimate idea ! (please don't take this seriously):
Get a barge with an on board recycling system that fabricates huge nets from the trash.
Cover the trash and let simmer.
Then attach spent uranium nuclear fuel rods (that are way denser and heavier than lead, I think, like the depleted plutonium used in military bullets) to the perimeter of the net sections.
Attach as many as it takes to sink the whole vortex into the abyss and you've solved TWO waste issues for the price of ONE !!!!
Seriously, though, my first real defining moment when I really began boycotting plastic and stepped up my efforts taking reusable bags to the grocery store was when I was drift diving ninety feet down in West Palm Beach and saw a plastic bag caught around a gorgonian coral. Really caught my attention.
Here's a nugget for those that argue about the size of the problem - Even if Drew and others are overestimating the size of the trash heap, consider this: at the rate that we (all of us) are consuming and tossing plastic trash, the trash vortex will very soon be as big as claimed and will exceed these sizes !!!
And please quit with the Christian / God bashing - Don't let a few vocal irrational voices cement your pre-suppositions. Most Christians and conservatives I hang with are very conservation minded and have not removed their brain.
"I seemed to hang . . . as if suspended in the heart of a giant liquid Saffire" - Louis Marden, National Geographic (1950 something - pre-Doubilet), on diving with Jacques Cousteau and his new "Aqualung" http://www.johnblazydesigns.com
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Originally Posted by PuyallupCoug
