"Do you need a package?" - the polite saleswoman asks us. “Yes,” the buyer habitually agrees. It's so convenient: I folded everything, took it by the handles - and no worries about carrying food. Do you know the further fate of the plastic bag? Throw it in the trash, that's all. Everything is only for the eyes, but not everything for our health.
For example, you will not find an apple core thrown into the grass next year. It will be decomposed by microorganisms, insects, or eaten by birds, rodents. And there is no one to recycle a plastic bag or other plastic waste in nature, and according to various sources it will decompose from 400 to 1000 years !!! And those who drive past the landfills observe spectacular non-decaying mountains that constantly smoke, spreading a fetid scent. This is the picture we see on earth.
Did you know that another part of the garbage is hiding in water bodies? "Hiding" from us - the mainland inhabitants. BUT THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO ARE FORCED TO CONSTANTLY SEE THE ENDLESS SPACES OF WATER INSTEAD OF WATER. Fishermen, pushing the garbage, catch fish. Children are forced to swim among the plastic remains.
In 2012-2013, our compatriots, led by Captain Anatoly Kulik, made the final round of the world trip on an inflatable sailing ship. Towards the end of their final stage, THEY WERE CROSSING A GREAT SPOT OF THE PACIFIC, SPREADING THE DEBRIS. What do they think about civilized people now?.. It would be unpleasant for you to find out (based on materials published by the ship's journal and travelers' diaries).
Let's get acquainted with this phenomenon.
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The Great Pacific Garbage Patch formed between Hawaii and California. This is the North Pacific Ocean. The exact size of the spot is unknown. Rough estimates of the area vary from 700 thousand to 15 million square kilometers or more (from 0.41% to 8.1% of the total area of the Pacific Ocean). Probably, THIS AREA HAS MORE THAN A HUNDRED MILLION TONS OF GARBAGE !!!
In 1997, debris in the Pacific was discovered by racing boat enthusiast and oceanographer Charles Moore. At that time he was returning from another race between sailing yachts. “I didn't recognize the Pacific Ocean. Everywhere, wherever my gaze reached, this garbage stretched, it was impossible to swim even a meter, so as not to necessarily touch at least something plastic,”- said Charles.
The arrival of such information has prompted a number of studies of the movement of plastic waste in the world's waters. And in 2008-2009, the world scientific community equipped several fairly large expeditions to the shores of the "garbage island".
The vortex of the North Pacific Current System collects debris from all over the North Pacific Ocean, including coastal waters of North America and Japan. Waste is picked up by surface currents and gradually moved to the center of the whirlpool, which does not release debris beyond its limits (calm zone). Conservationists are convinced that such landfills exist in all oceans.
So, back in 2009, the "Institute of Five Whirlpools" was founded by the oceanographer Dr. Markus Eriksen and his wife Anna Cummins. The Institute studies the problems of pollution of the World Ocean, already discovered garbage spots, and is also looking for new ones.
According to Charles Moore himself, 80% of the garbage comes from land-based sources, 20% is thrown from the decks of ships on the high seas. Moore argues that waste from the west coast of North America travels to the center of the whirlpool in about five years, and from the east coast of Asia in a year or less.
Data from the UNEP Environment Program show that about 70 percent of debris released into the ocean subsequently drowns. So it is UNKNOWN AT THIS MOMENT WHAT HUGE WASTE DUMP IS STILL AT THE BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN!
Plastic waste is presented in the form of small polymer particles that resemble plankton. As you know, plankton is food for many fish and aquatic animals.
Environmentalists warn: 2.5 billion people eat raw fish, which makes up about 20 percent of their protein diet. Naturally, the pollution of fishing regions causes spoilage of such food. It should not be forgotten that a lot of other products are made from fish. And their consumption can affect our health.
The industry produces 260 million tons of plastic annually, a tenth of which ends up in the ocean at the end of its life. The size of the garbage patch is increasing exponentially.
Charles Moore believes that THE MOST OPTIMAL SOLUTION COULD BE ONLY THE FULL WORLDWIDE CONSCIOUSNESS THAT IT IS NECESSARY TO IMMEDIATELY CHANGE LIFESTYLE, HABITS, in any way to stop debris from entering the ocean waters. Charles is supported by Philippe and Alexander Cousteau, the grandchildren of the famous Jacques-Yves Cousteau, who in every possible way promote the preservation of the ocean's wealth.
By the way, the use of disposable plastic items and plastic packaging bags is prohibited in the areas adjacent to the "trash spot". This is truly: "Better to see once than hear a hundred times." Environmentalists, together with scientists, ask people not to think that the ocean is too far from them, and to constantly remember the fact that POLLUTION OF THE WORLD'S OCEAN WATER IN MOST CASES STARTS FROM THE SINK IN THE KITCHEN, AN INNOCENT PICNIC IN THE NATURE, AFTER WHICH IS DEAD ON THE GRASS OR ON THE RIVER.
After all, it is not clean at all where they often clean, but where they never litter!
Author: Pystina Evgeniya