Oceans of Poison

Thanks.

You're welcome!

You're welcome.

Twice the size of Texas.

Indeed.

Exactly right. Glass works great for food storage, and it's more sanitary.

Never give up, Vic; that's too easy and I know you'd not take the easy way out. Just know that we need to get to a point of "critical mass" with the information, as Progresshiv says below. We can all tough it out cuz we have to - just never shut-up about it - make a pest of yourself to all lawmakers and educators. Yell louder!

Thanks for the reminder. It's really tough nowadays.

You're welcome. We can make this stop.

getting it stopped is one thing but how about the cleanup of the mess we already have going. That is a job that will take a hundred years if a day. Not that it can't be done but those in charge of things will fight tooth and nail to say it is not harming a thing as it is. Sure We know better. we know it is leading to a slow death of the planet.

Create a use for all this extra plastic, that is the answer. I have a challenge for anyone who reads this. Find a use for plastic. It.contains petroleum, so it must be good for something. Lets do it America!

Good creative idea, dugdog!! Start making calls& send letters too.

Ok your on.

Recycled plastic makes great material for strong construction. There is a kid's playground near my house that has many structures (towers, walkways, etc.) made with plastic framing. It's very sturdy and lasts forever. I have concern that the plastic may exude harmful substances and that the kids may absorb them, but there has to be a way to make such materials safer. I say we scoop up all the trash in the oceans and use it for building homes for people who have none.

I'm sickened, too. I don't know anything about an oil leak up north, but there's enough hydrocarbons in this plastic to equal thousands of oil leaks..

Voted up and shared.

All we lack is a 13YO to invent the Star Trek matter materializer then all our garbage will be suddenly as valuable as the Energy it possesses! PRAY UP MORE 13 YEAR OLDS.

Oh yea G-man. I'm thinking a super compactor that compacts the plastic into a superdense ball. From there it will be incinerated at an extremely high temperature in a micro oven. And I'm stuck now. I guess we DO need a13yr old.

When the fish start walking ashore carrying Gatling guns and bullet belts we may have to share our land... that we took with Gatling guns. I'm thinking along the lines of the alien Arnold fought. Whew.

Your idea isn't so bad, you just need to apply Quantum Physics. What you do is you get the ball to collapse into a black hole that gets Smaller & Smaller til it's gone. Poof. Problem solved.

Okay. If I apply quantum physics, I wouldn't need a black hole. But I think we are deffinently on to something here. If I can make a car run on plastic, suddenly there will be a SHORTAGE OF OCEAN PLASTIC! It's the how, not the why...hmm, maybe add in an electric motor that runs off a reverse tesla coil. Yes. Yesss...yes ssss.

You've got to stop trying to solve it TIL WE FIRST FIND THE RIGHT 13YO TO RELEASE IT.

TOO LATE! I'VE SOLVED IT. Pass a law that no more trees can be destroyed to make paper money... HAS TA BE PLASTIC. PROBLEM SOLVED.

It is time for us all to start speaking, even if it annoys those around us. We have to create a critical mass of awareness that blooms into an understanding of the seriousness of this problem. Don't give up.

well I am good at annoying folks I guess it's time to send it back out. Not like I have a lot to do dureing the day.

Ha! Excellent!

Go for it, Bailey.
Try one school, then another... any teacher worth his/her salt should be glad to show it to students (especially those "bragged about" Charter Schools).
If one of them takes it, the others will follow.

I will start fresh first thing in the morning. I'm just not ready to be serious right now

I will start sending it out as soon as My Wife lets me go online i the morning.

Sounds like a good gal, my friend.
"Happy wife, Happy life."

We have been together for twentytwo years now. She is my best friend in the whole world. I tell people either I did something really good once or She did something really bad once for the cosmos to put us together

Sounds pretty cool, Bailey, you got a good, and I'm pretty sure she'd say the same.

Did you see the "sewage" foam? Looked more like frothed oil to me...wonder how that got there?

From the waste water system getting over loaded. That will do it everytime

Fabulous video, Jan. Thanks for adding it here. The problem is not complex- all of us need to reduce or eliminate our use of plastic. We then have to mobilize our communities to start cleaning it up. It can be recycled into building materials or melted down and stored underground where the risk of contaminants leaching into the air and water is minimal. Plastics are relatively inert; we don't have to be.

I agree the solutions are there. It's the will that's the problem.

it's the leadership that's the problem and the lack of awareness they force. people don't want this

It's people making the trash. Not being willing to see your part in it only stifles the change.

the fracturing of humanity is also stifling change so we all need to drop argument, be personally aware and stand up for ourselves, each other, and Earth

I'm not surprised about the Keystone decision at all; the lobbying even by the Canadian Ministers of Energy and Environment have been in DC for the better part of the last 3 months. Truly sickening & poor excuses for human beings.

Hope you had a look at the video (below) - it's a "stunner."

Allowing the use of tar sands for the extraction of more oil is analogous to giving meth to a crackhead.

"Truly sickening & poor excuses for human beings." I totally agree, Hardytoo. Yes, I checked out the video below. Just horrible.

Yes indeed, Progresshiv.

I hate to be an alarmist, but the figures that describe the extent of plastic pollution in the ocean are staggering. In Asia the cultural ethic does not support even thinking about discarding plastic into the environment, and there are many beaches completely covered, many feet deep, with plastic garbage.

Sea turtles are particularly vulnerable to plastic, as they eat it without hesitation. There is a documented case of a female turtle excreting four large plastic bags she had eaten previously. Much of the plastic she had eaten remained inside her, where it poisoned her internal organs.

The large volume of plastic swirling in the oceans has direct effects on ocean currents and temperatures, and it releases a chemical soup of carcinogens that infiltrate every level of the food chain. Last year when we collected plastic from several hundred square meters of beach, then had them analyzed in the local college's lab, pieces as small as human white blood cells were found. Microscopic particles of plastic that enter our bodies and reside there, releasing chemicals into our organs, are killers.

I don't think you're being alarmist at all.
The Pacific "plastic island" stretches from Hawaii to Japan (it's 2X the size of Texas); combine that with increased acidity levels, which is killing the phytoplankton - spells "the end." Destroying the bottom rung of the food-chain ensures the destruction of all life forms above that rung. I just don't have any answers (not that you're asking, but it's such a helpless feeling for all of us). I find it overwhelming.

It is certainly overwhelming, and the temptation for me is to say, "There's nothing to be done," and wait for the end. I told that to my friend, Marc, who appears in this video. Marc suggested that the government could wipe out unemployment by hiring millions of folks to take part in cleaning up the beaches and the oceans. Such projects would stimulate economies, clean our planet, and save lives.

It is very important that each of us who knows about this situation spread the word to all of our connections, including positive encouragement as to how we could solve this problem. Apathy is a great drug, but it leads to death. I appreciate your response very much and know that you will make a difference somehow.

I do hope this video reaches the schools, especially the young kids - that's the key. I believe the ONLY way we're ever going to approach this problem is thru education, both in and out of schools.
The video is not only amazing but truly an eye-opener to what and where we might start in "cleaning up." Some of it, the mimicking of shape and size, is a real eye-opener. It seems like "doom, but we can't give up.
I agree with your idea about stimulating economies - I have a few ideas about that too, along the same lines. (And if the energy companies scream, then put them in charge by letting keep part of their tax exemptions and favors they now get.)
In my little corner of the world (which is paradise hidden), I'm within walking distance of a lovely beach area; I usually have two garbage bags with me - one for driftwood and fun stuff (shells, wood, rocks), and the other for garbage pick-up. (I know it sounds rather small in scope, but it's at least a contribution). There are others here doing the same thing - we all laugh at each other, but at heart, we know we're doing our small part, and we're setting an example, if only in a small way. I can devote only a couple of hrs a week to cleaning up the beach, and will have more hours when I retire (soon I hope).
Don't give up (which is what I'm saying to myself). Keep on posting items like this one - raise a few eyebrows, and a lot of awareness. We all MUST.

Thanks- for cleaning the beach, for lobbying for positive change, for giving a damn.

Not looking for special thanks (altho i appreciate your saying it)- it's "tiny" work. If it wasn't so much fun with the others there, I'd have find another politician to bug. HA!!