The Plastics "Out There" and "In Here"

There's a patch of ocean out there about as far as you can get from people on this small blue marble we call Earth, and it is slowly filling with tiny flecks of plastic.

First, they said it was a "large area" the size of Texas. Then it was two Texases. Then, a continent. They said the plastic fragments outnumbered plankton, then later that there was six times, and then seven, and now thirty times as much plastic as plankton. They call it the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, the Trash Island, The North Pacific Gyre, or the Pacific Trash Vortex. It's described as an oceanic trash dump, a giant bowl of plastic soup, a place where sea turtles and albatrosses fill their stomachs with lighters and bottle caps.

I know of a half-dozen expeditions now mounting or planned to visit this heart of the plastic problem... "out there." But, here's what else I know: they don't need to go "out there" to see the problem, because the problem is "in here," too.

And over there, where you are.

It's in the Sargasso Sea and the Mediterranean. It's in our lakes and rivers. It's on remote sea turtle beaches in the South Pacific. It's in your kitchen. And, it's in your blood.

Scientists have known that tiny pieces of plastic pose an ominous threat to life in the ocean, and to us, since 1972. New toxicological research is making it increasingly clear that our century-long love affair with plastic is taking its toll "in here." Chemicals such as phthalates and Bisphenol A leach from plastic containers into the food or liquid inside and, from there, into our bodies. Once inside us they can poison us or cause cancer, neurological damage, endometriosis and birth defects, as well as liver and kidney damage. Other chemicals like PCBs, DDT and PAHs cling to the plastic bits and work their way up the food chain, and eventually back to us.

Yet plastic production and pollution has only soared. Maybe you've heard the stats? A trillion plastic bags are used each year, most discarded after a single use. Billions upon billions of plastic bottles, cups, utensils and straws pile on top of them. Then there are all the containers that virtually everything comes in: the plastic we wrap things in, and the myriad little toys, trinkets, clips and holders that do one thing and are then tossed. Not to mention the merely useful items like cell phones, cassette tapes, CD's and laptops that were once cool enough to be kept for awhile, but are now obsolete garbage.

Cigarette butts, the most common item removed from our beaches by the folks who spend their free time doing such saintly things, are mostly plastic. Discarded fishing gear, nets, ropes and glow sticks are plastic, too. Such items create a particularly insidious problem as they float along for years, "ghost fishing" for anything unlucky enough to get tangled in their sprawling web.

In many parts of the world, disposable plastic is a recent phenomenon. As a field biologist I witnessed the introduction and growth of plastic in Mexican and Indonesian coastal communities -- places without regular garbage disposal let alone recycling programs. Before plastic, aluminum and glass containers were returnable for a deposit, nearly everything else was biodegradable or burnable. Along came plastic and you know the rest.

Don't get me wrong, addressing the distant patch of plastic in the ocean is noble and important, but the first step to fixing things "out there" is to get a grip on the plastic "in here" at arm's reach.

Now, here's the good news. A large percentage of the plastic cleaned up on our beaches and from our oceans is avoidable. There are alternative, reusable or biodegradable substitutes available now, with today's technology. I'm not talking about ten years from now or some sci-fi version of a plastic-free future. I'm talking about today. A huge percentage of our plastic problem could be addressed immediately, using simple, cost-effective, off-the-shelf technologies. All we need is the personal and political will to say "no" to disposable plastic wherever and whenever there's a better alternative.

To help, just try these three things:

• See if you can go ONE day without using disposable plastic. Email me if you need helpful tips. If you can go a day, you can go a week.
• Once you've done that, challenge another person to do the same, and help each other by lending your reusable bag, sending reminders and encouragement, or gently applying peer pressure.
• Then add your voice to the growing chorus of thousands of communities, cities, workplaces, and schools who are striving to drastically reduce their waste streams.

There is a solution to all the plastic swirling "out there" in the Pacific Ocean. It begins and ends "in here" -- inside me and inside you.

Comments

[SimplyGreenSolutions]

Great Article! As of August, 2008, the USA has the biggest monkey on its back and leads the world in plastic bottle consumption (Source: Beverage Marketing Corporation - 2008 The Global Bottled Water Market). In this particular case, the facade of convenience creates a dependency on plastic bottles, although we specialize in reusable bags at www.simplygreensolutions.com Simply Green Solutions. Metropolitan environments are more conducive to the increase in this commonplace activity (using plastic once) that becomes a habit in dire need of being kicked. Especially here in sun-soaked Los Angeles. There's alot of gym memberships and thirsty people on-the-go. We're their support system. Everyone can be - reuse, reduce and recycle.

[oceanmagazine]

J's article says it right. Plastic is in us - not only our blood, but we are breathing it and the toxins that it carries. It's affecting our genetic functioning and that of our children. It even enlarges our fat cells and is a contributing reason for our increased obesity. And it's going no where. Rather, it is collecting and collecting, not breaking down and biodegrading. The more and more we produce it and use it, the more it collects in us. Only 3 to 5 percent of the plastic that we use is recycled. And it can only be used again if a layer of new plastic is added to it! I'm using glass and stainless steel more and more, and buying less food wrapped in plastic, and re-using the non-recyclable plastic containers I have. And now I want to learn how to make more of my own goods - like body lotion and shampoo. We can do it! We just have to change our habits.

[GoDeep]

Great article. We're currently working to pass a plastic bag fee in Seattle (http://greenbagcampaign.org/). If this amendment passes, people will be more inclined to use their own bags and we'll be able to use the 20 cent fee to hand out reusable bags and to educate people on things like the giant pacific garbage patch.....

[Laka]

This information couldn't be more scary or more true. But there are solutions and Save Our Shores along with many other environmental groups and cities are working towards these solutions. Let's hope that working together we can turn the tide on plastics, and that we do it soon. We can't afford to lose one more turtle to a plastic bag.

[Jonathan Eells]

Definitely need to bring back the glass deposit bottles for EVERYTHING currently in plastic containers. Milk? Glass. Water? GLASS. Besides, you should be drinking tap water, and you all know it. Distributors only went to plastic because it's cheaper under our current, wrong-headed economic model of exogenous costs being discounted or flatly ignored. It is government's job to make those costs - waste, pollution, etc. - part of the economic equation again, and it can do so by mandating glass deposit bottle programs across the board for everything we "consumers" buy.

[Jeeg]

Besides the obvious alternatives to plastics...cloth grocery bags, etc., try stainless steel containers to take your lunch to work or school. To-go Ware is a good one. No plastic and no waste. Lighters? Well, just quit smoking. It will help with the cigarette butt issue too. Do not buy bottled water...bottle your own. It is much cheaper and so much more environmentally friendly. I buy milk in a glass bottle that is returnable for a refund (available at Whole Foods). Not quite sure how to eliminate the packaging used to buy bulk food items (bags and small containers). That may be one for the groceries to work on. I know that cooking helps this matter, rather than buying processed foods which are bad for you anyway. Maybe hit up the farmer's markets this summer!! Whole Foods also sells shampoo/conditioner and soaps in bulk that come in reusable (yes, plastic) containers. But at least they are not being thrown away. I am not a Whole Foods advocate. I just shop there b/c it is within walking distance. Any other alternatives?

[oceanrev]

All of those things ARE happening...just not fast enough or on a large enough scale. Plus the plastic has been accumulating for decades. Classic tragedy of the commons. Add to that the efforts of "big plastic" to frame the issue, fight bans an taxes, and continue growth in plastic sales, and you've got the current situation.

[Konnie]

i understand what you want to happen.

what i don't understand is why aren't some of the countries surrounding this "continent"
of trash doing something? or better yet, why hasn't some private interprise started a
clean energy solution to create electricity out of this monster? seems to me if you
can float an oil platform, you could certainly float a recycling center, eating this mess
into nothing...­........or at least something/ a manageable/useful byproduct.

Let that become Al Gore's next project. assembling a consortium of businesses
and capital investment to make that happen.

[Doug88]

Great comments and questions. We are actually going out to the vortex to do all that you are asking about, in one of the broadest ocean projects yet put together, all from private individuals or corporations. To date, it is hard to get governments to act in a big way out there, since international waters has no laws....which is why the fishing industry is such a mess. We will be testing catch methods for the plastic, as well as undertaking science studies to show the toxicity levels, how it effects our food chain, and even possible carbon sequestration issues based on different depth analysis of the suspended plastic. We are working with some of the world's leading plastics innovators and recyclers, and will be using a new technique to turn some of this into diesel fuel. Of course it is impossible to clean the whole ocean, but we will try to do a clean up mission after this first test/study mission has been completed. We will be filming a National Geographic documentary, and are now recognized by the United Nations as a Climate Hero in the run-up to the Copenhagen talks in December. We will also be putting on the world's first large ocean cleanup with four large sports communities - Paddlers, Surfers, Divers and Sailors, for World Ocean Day (June 6/7th for the cleanups). Please spread the word. You can find more on our project at: www.projectkaisei.org

It's time to facilitate rapid change.......

Doug