During a recent trip to the gym, DG and I discussed my recent post about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP, but known affectionately by readers of the AE as the Garbage Gyre), and we decided that what was needed was to band together a couple of thousand volunteers, a couple of thousand kayaks made from recycled plastic, and some big 0l' sugar mommy/daddy with the capital to ship us all over to the drop spot with 10 or so garbage barges that we can use to clean up the dang thing. I really think that's the only way this is going to happen, since no country wants to claim ownership of this monstrosity, yet every nation has probably contributed to it.I'm not a big fan of TreeHugger.com, because they contribute to the whole notion of saving the environment through buying more junk you don't really need, because it's "green" junk. But, having said that, they have a couple of really great pieces about the GPX2. The first is something they did in February titled "The Great Pacific Garbage Patch: Out of Sight, Out of Mind," that describes what it is very succinctly. One commenter even links to a Flickr photo of the GPX2 which is mind-blowing in size. Then, in April of this year, they did another article about the gyre, "VBS.tv Sails Out to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch," and had links to the videos. There are 12 episodes in all, and I encourage everyone to watch at least the first episode of "Garbage Island."
Photo is of VBS.tv correspondent Thomas Morton with the catch of the day -- plastic garbage-- via Treehugger.com
7 comments:
Where are you planning on dumping this stuff once you 'clean' it up? It will just eventually end up in the same place, which is why no country wants to claim ownership.
I would love to see it gone, but unless you have a huge hole to bury it in, or a big pit to burn it in, it isn't going away.
Where are you planning on dumping this stuff once you 'clean' it up? It will just eventually end up in the same place, which is why no country wants to claim ownership.
I would love to see it gone, but unless you have a huge hole to bury it in, or a big pit to burn it in, it isn't going away.
Well, that's why you'd need a sugar daddy/momma to build the "specialized recycling center!" ;D Probably most of the crap is plastic anyway and could largely be recycled.
'sides There's certainly nothing wrong with dreaming up possible solutions- if people in the world didn't dream and dream BIG, we'd be missing out on alot of really cool things.
I suppose it'd be more constructive if we all started braistorming ideas on what to do with the stuff once we fish it out.
That's not an impossible puzzle, just one that will take some creative thinkin', perseverance, positive can-do attitudes and alot of hard work and as with all projects) good funding...
(omg- was that sound I just heard the grants radar going off?? methinks I smell a potential TED topic here...) ::grin::
"I'm jus' sayin'..."
You are correct, thinking about the problem is more than a lot of people do, obviously or it wouldn't end up out there anyway.
We need better collection methods at people's homes.
Thanks for trying to come up with a solution.
Yep, it's a good question. What's the point of gathering it all up and sticking it on the same barge it fell off (or was dumped off) in the first place? We'd have to be extra careful when contracting with the barge people not to get Snidely Whiplash barge dudes who will throw it all back in the water or passed-out drunk barge dudes who will let it all blow back into the water. These will be important considerations. Also, once we barge it ashore, we'll then have to get the stuff far far inland so that it won't blow off the top of a landfill into the stratosphere and rain down upon the oceans.
I personally do not like barges in the first place, being as how they are usually fueled by fossils and therefore contribute to the pizening of the atmosphere. We'd need sailing vessels or boats powered like viking slave ships, instead. Then once we get the junk ashore, we'd have to relay-bicycle it to Omaha. We could call the operation The Decathalon of Doom (because I'm not thinking any of this would be too healthful for the participants). Catchy, huh? Should catch on quick.
I read somewhere a fascinating statement by some kind of scientist type who said we ought to rethink our attitudes about plastic. The thing about "it won't biodegrade for twohundredbillionyears" is actually GOOD, because the biodegradation of stuff contributes to global warming. This guy says we should stop recycling it and enCOURage turning all carbon reserves into plastic because once it's turned to plastic, the carbon is sequestered so that it can't as easily escape into the atmosphere and turn the planet into a boiling hot desert of lifelessness. So turning everyting plastic actually keeps the earth a nice healthy temperature. Which is just, yay, so great, except for this whole "oceans poisoned to death" part. If we wipe out life in the oceans, we wipe out the larder for the whole shebang and turn the planet into a pleasantly temperate desert of lifelessness. So we need to get the plastic out of the ocean, posthaste and stuff it someplace where it can't get back IN the ocean.
::pick me! pick me!::
I want to play the giant drum on "the boat powered like a viking slave ship?" ;D
There may be a silver lining in all of this..The plastic may provide a home to beneficial organisms..let's see what this latest reserch project from th Univ. of Hawaii has to say.
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