The Environmental Injustice of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch
by Danielle Cabrera
Although the Great Pacific Garbage Patch may seem like just an island of floating trash, it is actually a great danger to sea animals and humans. Everyone needs to know how this environmental issue is affecting anyone who consumes fish. The amount of plastic and other pollutants that are digested by sea animals is a fatal amount. Since the garbage patch is mostly made up of micro plastics that cannot be seen by the naked eye, we as consumers do not really realize what toxins we are digesting.
There is still hope to solve this crucial issue by enforcing different cleanup acts and a major push on recycling. So much of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is made up of micro plastics that the greatest solution would be to eliminate the production of all plastics and put in place a type of biodegradable material. Anyone can easily get involved in helping by changing one’s own behavior to recycle more and spread the word of how critical it is to do so. Asking for a biodegradable alternative to plastic and simply thinking about what is sustainable material prior to purchasing is important because you never really know where your trash will end up.
We all need to remember that the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is only one of the many man-made issues that is extremely harmful to our ecosystems, marine life, and each other. Remember, any solution to remove plastic counts because our future depends on our actions now!
Check out this link to see what a 19 year old developed to clean up 50% of The Great Pacific Garbage Patch within a decade!