Oprah Shines Light On Great Pacific Garbage Patch (VIDEO)

Oprah's green episode for Earth Day started with chilling footage and description of a giant island of trash -- "The Great Pacific Garbage Patch".

Currently, scientists believe the world's largest garbage dump isn't on land...it's in the Pacific Ocean. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch stretches from the coast of California to Japan, and it's estimated to be twice the size of Texas. "This is the most shocking thing I have seen," Oprah says.

Just a month ago, the Natural Resource Defense Council's Kate Slusark blogged here at HuffPost Green about the giant oceanic trash dump:

To give you a little background: Years of bottles, bags, toys, packaging and plastic trash from all corners of the Earth are swirling in a plastic whirlpool in the North Pacific. Discarded water bottles from Iowa, takeout containers from New York City, flip-flops from California and plastic debris from the world over make their way from land into storm drains, streams, rivers and other waterways. They are carried out sea, where they get trapped in swirling ocean currents - forming a giant, floating trash dump of an enormous proportion - no matter how you quantify it.

WATCH:

What can you do about it? Well, as Kate wrote, you can be sure to recycle your plastic! And you can use less plastic.

Oprah also gave green living tips with HuffPost Green contributor Simran Sethi, and talked to Michael Pollan (who also blogged for us about "a food revolution in the making" for us here at HuffPost Green yesterday).

VBS.tv produced a 12-part Web series on Garbage Island earlier this month. Here's part one:

Comments

[Anandas]

THIS COULD BE TURNED AROUND IMMEDIATELY - refuse plastic, and take a portion of gas and oil taxes to pay to retrieve and recycle that pacific garbage dump (could take years but one small step for man). It is all about decisions and action. It is not just bottles, there are literally tons of insane plastic containers packaging items like nail files/phone cords/batteries/etc ---- you know, the packages you need a sledge hammer to open----not to mention the ludicrous, very upsetting packaging of food (huge package, tiny piece of food inside : bacon, all frozen food, cheese/meats, - this is retardation!)

. Don't attack Oprah on this one - she and others could use their influence to turn this around and bolster public opinion and awareness and behavior very very quickly. That would be necessary.

Meanwhile I use canvas bags and shop in bulk for the most part- hardly encounter this plastic at all, and that goes for hair and cleaning products, too , which are available in bulk. Ok, Venture Capitalists,
lets get bulk buying emporiums in every town!!!

[hypnotoad72]

I did go a step too far in saying "hypocrite", I will agree (and I unreservedly apologize), but it is not unfair to point out various ironies or discrepancies.

[AngieMom57]

I'm proud of you.

[ZKMC]

In the 1970s, when I was but a wee toddler and kindergartner... there was no such thing as plastic bottles and plastic bags. Everything was in glass. The glass was sent back to be washed and recycled and used again... all you had to do was take it back to the grocery store.

Thank the oil companies for the big plastic garbage dump in the Pacific. They had to find a way to make continual consumer goods that had no recycled elements so they could continue to reap profits. We had a glass bottle factory in my home town. It was shut down under George Bush Sr., and then there were plastic bottles all of a sudden. The glass factory workers out of jobs and the oil companies making plastic bottles.

Gross.

[AngieMom57]

I REMEMBER.

Thank you for reminding me that solutions are sustainable that greed is dysfunctional on all levels.

[hypnotoad72]

Thanks to you both, AngieMom57 and ZKMC.

Plastic bottles are sinful in a way; the chemicals used in the plastic will leach into the fluid over time.

Glass is heavier... but it's safer, more efficient, and by lifting and moving it, people build muscle tone in a productive way.

Granted, let's also look at the pros to plastic:

1. It's lighter and therefore more goods housed in plastic can be transported, compared to what's housed in glass.
2. As it's lighter, less energy is needed to move plastic.
3. Plastic can be recycled too.

There might be ways to keep chemicals from leeching into the fluids as well.

[rekk]

I live in Europe where recycling laws carry big fines and thrift is a traditional value (something left over from densely populated areas and two devastating world wars). Maybe it's because we in the states are always trying to live in the future, still, I'll be moving back this summer and I'm happy, happy, happy, because whatever hardships we've brought on this world, I think also of the contributions. We have enormous energy to make this one right!

[HeavyDoug]

500 hundred years ago white Europeans brought capitalism, slavery, genocide, and a soulessness that other peoples could not and still cannot concieve. They call it progress, their "burden". Manifest Destiny. The invention and ruthless use of firearms gave them control. Heaven help us.

Did you know american women have the highest levels of flame retardants in their breastmilk than other countries?

Mass shootings are common now. Honey bees are disappearing. The polar icecaps are melting.

Capitalism is deadly stuff.

[Betrayed]

Heavy Doug : Ah, yes. Those soulless whites. What have they ever done for mankind? LOL

Sounds like you're prone to dramatics

[AngieMom57]

"Smug greedy well fed white men have made up a language to conceal their sins."

I'm part white smug greedy and well fed; thank goodness only a small part...

[hypnotoad72]

Before capitalism, it wasn't all bliss and flowers and peace either. I wish it was... but it wasn't. There were tribes, there were wars... in some ways it's far better now than it was 500 years ago, 600 years ago, 1000 years ago... 5000 years ago...

Mass shootings are because we go overboard with faux 'individualism' -- and if you tell somebody in public that what hey are doing might be wrong, YOU are the one chastised by everybody for saying something is wrong. Children learn from their ambient environment. That's what people forget. And we let kids and bullies get away with everything; principals can't do much either because the parents might mewl and sue. Capitalism is NOT to blame for that mess. Not one bit. We need to look at ourselves, find out what has worked, what has not worked, and put things to rights. In a phrase, "lack of teaching morals" is the root cause of bullying, mass shootings, et al.

In the 1970s, everyone was freaked out about 'global cooling'. Now it's 'global warming'. I'll agree 'climate change' has SOME relevance, but we need to really work forward.

[AngieMom57]

I like the work forward part. Play it forward is what the young students are doing. thanks for your post.

[Betrayed]

An environmentalist who lives in mansions. Oprah is a fraud!. God, I can't stand limousine liberals like her.

[ZKMC]

Then I hope you live in a Teepee or an adobe hut, because that is the only environmentally friendly dwelling there is.

[AngieMom57]

I've lived in both, and now I live in a home that I have slowly throughout the years upgraded to being environmentally functional.

Compost
Organic Vegetable Garden
Metal Roof

Still got work to do.

[Cogs]

We are killing this planet

[verse187]

I don't intend to sound like a misanthrope, but alas how else would one achieve understanding from a species which is the true filth whom pollutes all forms of life. We kill everything, sometimes slowly like torturing "war criminals" whose hatred then intoxicates the young who then vow to kill the enemy, yet the interrogators wash their hands of all the collateral "terrorism." We choke the very vessel which supports life, not women, but Mother Earth, but how do you reach people who abort their kind? This planet is neglected and the day it strikes back many will die, some slowly, some quickly. I guess we're a collective group of sadistic hedonists, because all the instant gratification we seek eventually burdens another. People can't even control their appetite, voracious beasts we've become. Gluttony is brushed aside with simplistic retorts like "I'm not fat I'm big boned." WE ARE THE MACHINE THAT DRILLS INTO THE EARTH AND BURROWS OUR IGNORANCE IN SEARCH OF OIL. ME, YOU, EVERYONE.....prayer is just that a prayer, words that rustle not a leaf, just like my words. I'm saddened by my own presence there's always so much more I can do, so much we could do...... existence with trivial purpose, the new definition of human being

[Sierrahoney]

It's not easy to give up all plastic, but it is time to begin thinking about what we do not absolutely need to use. One poster mentioned the little plastic "scrubbing beads" that are in so many facial cleansers. They go right down the drain into the sewage system -- how insidious!
Also about time moms start getting their kids potty trined by 3 years of age -- the diaper materials in the land-fills, along with unprocessed sewage -- is just nasty. Some nice organic cotton diapers will not only be kinder to the earth, but will be sufficiently uncomfortable enough to motivate those head-strong kidlets to use the toilie!

[hypnotoad72]

How many cars and plastic things has she given away on her show?

How many ipods has she helped to sell?

P-H-O-N-Y

[AngieMom57]

Hello! None of us are free of this one, the caps on my glass bottles of cooking oil are plastic, how do I reuse them and not have one of them in a landfill somewhere...yes plastic has got to go, now, how?

Listening for any and all solutions, even if it is silly than $hit.

[zsja]

people are too lazy and too self absorbed to bother. too many live in their own little world, and are oblivious to the consequences of their actions, or even of the existence of others. it's too inconvenient. too complicated to sort the trash for recycling. it doesn’t matter what I do, it won't make a difference. I have to remember to bring my own bags shopping?! I need that plastic bag to carry my one tiny purchase that would fit in my stupid giant purse. bring bottles back to the store?! I can't be bothered. I don't have the time. I don't have kids; why should I care? oh, just throw it away; I'll just buy another one on my credit card that I cannot pay down. and so on, and son, and so on, until it's all over...

[rekk]

Not true. Maybe you're just having a bad day. There are many people who do a LOT. As this becomes more universal, people will succumb to peer pressure. Just like with smoking. The numbers of smokers in the states has reduced dramatically as it became less socially acceptable. The same thing will happen for the environment. Maybe you could argue people are sheep, but then there are Many activists who live entirely ecological lives. Maybe you were talking about yourself?

[joeplum88]

Gheez....how can we ever change this?? God help us.

[ashabot]

This is so totally heartbreaking, words fail me. WE HAVE TRULY BLOWN IT ON THIS PLANET.

[Christopher Morris]

Is there enough will and resources and technology to begin cleaning it up?

[hypnotoad72]

And the pay... supply and demand...

[hypnotoad72]

Which is a BS argument because "supply and demand" can be skewed and spun to fit any situation, regardless of nutty...

[Dannydel]

I don't know if its the hair, but Oprah looks lovely in that photo.

[AngieMom57]

All those hair products that came in PLASTIC BOTTLES!

[Wanjiru]

Nope, glass bottles.

.

[Brad Topliff]

Please, Oprah has people to squeeze the aloe vera plant directly onto her head.

[zizyphus]

That floating garbage mess dumps onto some of our southern beaches here (Big Island Hawaii). I have seen beaches where there was more plastic junk than sand. You could sit in one place, not move, and fill a large trash bag. The plastic had teeth marks on it from fish biting it. People go down with big trucks and spend hours collecting garbage, but it is always fills up again. These are remote beaches that would be beautiful if it were not for that floating garbage pile.

[rekk]

heartbreaking. I heard that a kid at MIT developed a bacteria capable of biodegrading plastic, but sheesh, any ideas of what else we can do than to release a man-made bacteria on a man-made scourge?

[Brad Topliff]

he was a high school student http://earthfirst.com/high-school-student-finds-a-way-to-biodegrade-plastic-in-3-months/