Marine Debris, The Ocean As A Landfill

Well, friend today we are talking about trash. It is no secret that the ocean is our largest landfill today. If you didn’t know that just google it you will find horrifying images of our ocean with giant piles of trash. Dense enough to actually walk on! Today we discuss marine debris how did it get there, what organizations are doing to clean it up, and how to proceed into the future.

How on earth did that get there? That is the question I ask when I see the random things that are found in the ocean like a car, or a pair of tennis shoes. Well, there are actually different ways things end up in the ocean. One way is through storm drains. When there is trash on the road and a storm comes through any trash on the road will get swept up into the drains. These items will then get dumped into the ocean. Another way is by the wind, if someone leaves trash on the beach it can be swept up. If there is a light piece of plastic or other light material it is possible that the wind could move it long distances. Ultimately it may just be blown all the way to the ocean or at least to rivers and streams that lead to the ocean. But what about the weird things like a car? Well, this leads us to our third possibility. Because there is a lot of shipping happening when we order things as well as the manufacturing of items leads to boats carrying those items across the ocean. During harsh storms, there are times that these shipping boats lose thousands of items at a time, like cars. The worst way is when waste management systems directly dump their trash into the ocean.

What happens when these items are in the ocean? Well, it depends on the density of the items. At times items will sink to the bottom but more buoyant items usually are swept by ocean currents. Eventually, giant trash piles also called garbage patches end up in gyres. Gyres are massive circular currents and there are five: North and South Pacific, North and South Atlantic, and the Indian ocean. So what goes in the ocean many times stay in the ocean. Now that we know how items can end up in the ocean it’s important to find a way to get it out since it is not good for the health of the ocean, marine animals, and us. So it’s up to us to take it out! That’s exactly what some organizations are doing.

I want to highlight organizations that are making a difference in protecting our ocean against ocean pollution and marine debris. The first is 4Oceans is a public benefit corporation that is committed to cleaning the ocean as well as educating others on the plastic pollution crisis. They also use the ocean-bound plastic that they collect and repurpose it as bracelets or other jewelry like necklaces. 4Oceans has a trash tracker on their website that says they have pulled over 17 million pounds since 2017. Make sure to check them out! The other organization is called NextWave Plastics, they sell ocean plastic to major companies like HP, IKEA, Herman Miller, and more to use in their products. NextWave Plastics is convened by Lonely Whale. They are solving a really important question. What do we do with the plastic we collect? Well, we have to repurpose it in more thought and long-lasting products. Make sure to check out what they are working on!

So how where do we go from here. I think the first thing is to remember we as individuals need to be more conscious of what we are buying and throwing out. On a bigger scale, it is going to take creating a policy that stops the continual production of plastics and the reduction of marine debris. I want to urge you to sign this petition to tell leaders we need a global treaty to tackle the plastic crisis. Only One is a great platform that makes it easy to sign petitions. I use them and I love how easy to manage the platform is. So please join me, we can make a difference when we come together.

Friends I want to leave you with hope. It can seem daunting when you see all that has to be done but know that we can do this! By reading this blog you’ve already educated yourself on the problem. I want to empower you to know that we can choose how we want our future to look it just takes one step at a time to get there!