Islands of Garbage in Pacific Ocean

[Michael]

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2009/11/10/science/10patch-1/articleInline.jpg

Light bulbs, bottle caps, toothbrushes, Popsicle sticks and tiny pieces of plastic, each the size of a grain of rice, inhabit the Pacific garbage patch, an area of widely dispersed trash that doubles in size every decade and is now believed to be roughly twice the size of Texas. But one research organization estimates that the garbage now actually pervades the Pacific, though most of it is caught in what oceanographers call a gyre like this one — an area of heavy currents and slack winds that keep the trash swirling in a giant whirlpool.

Scientists say the garbage patch is just one of five that may be caught in giant gyres scattered around the world’s oceans. Abandoned fishing gear like buoys, fishing line and nets account for some of the waste, but other items come from land after washing into storm drains and out to sea.

Source (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/10/science/10patch.html?_r=1&src=tw)

Wow. Twice the size of Texas? :eek:

[Donkey]

That's foul. We really need to learn to be more responsible with our waste. This is probably one of my bigger failings.

[Americano]

I've always considered trash I generate as a personal disposal responsibility.
When I see people just toss trash, be it from a vehicle or dropping wrappers from whatever on the ground, my mind is putting a red laser dot sight on them and emptying the clip into them to help the gene pool. But, I am somewhat anal when it comes to trash.