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Plastic in the Pacific

Ever wonder what happens to the plastic trash sucked down your local sewer vent or left dancing along the beach in the wind? Much of it ends up somewhere between California and Hawaii, swirling in a garbage vortex the size of Texas.

Actually, that may not be its final resting place. Sadly, fish and other aquatic life often mistake this trash for food. That empty plastic grocery bag could well find its way into the digestive tract of a stately sea lion, spelling its demise.

Garbage bags, six-pack rings, condoms and other trash swirling in the Pacific are to blame for the ongoing deaths of birds, fish, seals and sea lions, according to a report recently released by Greenpeace. The paper noted that at least 267 species have been reported to be suffering from eating or getting entangled in plastic debris; plastics comprise up to 80 percent of ocean debris; roughly 80 percent of the plastic that ends up in the ocean washes in from rivers, storm drains, beaches, and sewage treatment plants; and roughly 20 percent is dumped there by fishing vessels and other boats.

Greenpeace is calling for an international treaty prohibiting dumping trash in the ocean and better efforts to clean up beaches and reduce the amount of garbage washing down storm drains. Individuals can help by using less plastic, thereby reducing consumer demand; recycling the plastic they do use; ensuring their trash does not end up in storm drains; and taking part in local efforts to clean up rivers and streams.

For more information about this story, click here.

To see a copy of the Greenpeace report, click here.

To read more about this and other environmental health issues, go to: www.environmentalhealthnews.org, www.ourstolenfuture.org, or www.healthandenvironment.org