The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a mass of trash spread across 620,000 square miles of the Pacific Ocean with more than one trillion pieces of microplastics.  And, of course, fish are consuming the microplastics and the microplastics just travel right on up the food chain.  A June 5, 2019 article in Environmental Science and Technology by Kieran Cox, et al. "evaluated the number of microplastic particles in commonly consumed foods in relation to their recommended daily intake."  They "estimate that annual microplastics consumption by humans ranges from 39000 to 52000 particles a year."  Drinking water from single use plastic bottles would add another 90,000 particles per year, versus 4000 if you use glass or stainless containers.

In a CNET article, "Can we kill plastic?", August 3, 2020, Alison DeNisco Rayome, states, that, "even if discarded, plastic ends up in a landfill and can last there for up to 600 years."

Just look around you; look in your refrigerator, everything is plastic.  We can never get rid of plastic.

But we can, in our own way, reduce our use of single use plastic items.

And what about recycling?  Rayome states "In 2017, only about 8% of plastic produced in the U.S. was recycled.  Global recycling averages closer to 15% to 20% today."

And "virgin" plastic bottles are less expensive to produce than plastic bottles made from recycled plastic.  So what to do?

Start by using water bottles made of non-single use plastic or stainless steel.

Buy stuff that isn't wrapped in plastic.

Buy stuff made with recycled plastic.  Buy stuff that can be disposed of safely.

Be Aware!  Think about that Great Pacific Garbage Patch as you decide what to buy.  And be careful how you dispose of the plastics that you end up with.  That item is going to last 600 years, somewhere.

Just Be Aware!