Trash is more than just an ugly sight. Experts fear it might damage both marine creatures and people. Creatures can get stuck in large waste like fishing lines, but they also eat small pieces of plastic. These plastics then emit dangerous substances, such as mercury. The chemicals in the prey are absorbed by predators, allowing these toxins to rise through the food chain until they reach us. Oceanic trash can seriously affect our wellbeing.
Yet, there’s a glimmer of hope. A devoted organization, which gathered $31.5 million through donations within a few years, plans to tackle the plastic problem in the North Pacific starting from 2018. Around the globe, hundreds of other initiatives are addressing this issue. Specialists concur that a large team will be needed to eliminate the plastic waste, but they’re optimistic it can be accomplished.
Some researchers refer to our current time as the Plastic Age. You’ll find long, clear plastic sheets covering food in your refrigerator. We use plastic for drinking, carrying groceries, and it’s probably protecting the screen you’re reading this on right now. Plastic is so prevalent that scientists predict noticeable layers of it will be found in Earth’s sediment in millions of years.
The scale of the problem might not be as apparent as it seems. Due to oceanic currents, a significant portion of waste accumulates in large rotating current systems known as gyres, or simply garbage patches. The five main garbage patches are located in the Indian Ocean, North Atlantic, North Pacific, South Atlantic, and South Pacific.
The fundamental premise of Ocean Cleanup is to utilize the same currents that created the garbage patch and let them guide plastic into a curved array of large floating barriers. The waste can then be channeled towards a central reservoir where it can be gathered once a month. Slat intends to launch the project the following year and believes that by the 2040s, the North Pacific will be clear of garbage.
Progress is already happening. A 2015 law prohibited those small plastic beads present in face scrubs and body washes. Designed to exfoliate your skin, these beads easily bypass sewage treatment plants, ending up in rivers, lakes, and oceans. The law was enacted shortly after a study estimated that trillion beads were being flushed down drains every day. This is an excellent start. Can you imagine if we addressed all pollutants in this way?