Imagine a nightmare where you are adrift on an ocean, and surrounded by millions of plastic bottles and plastic items for as far as the eye can see, and no matter which way you turn you cannot move. Eventually, your efforts to free yourself from this plastic horror take their toll, and you fall overboard only to be engulfed by the tons of plastic that stretch into the depths of the ocean and you are never heard of or seen again.
Overly dramatic? Well, I made the last bit up but the first bit is very real. In every ocean of the world there is a plastic garbage dump of huge proportions. The Pacific Garbage Dump is twice the size of Great Britain. Plastic does not bio-degrade and can stay around for a million years. Some of it will break up and become absorbant “nurdles” taking in pesticides, cooling agents and other nasties. These in turn are eaten by small sea-creatures which feed on plankton and so enter the food chain. At some point it will be eaten by you
Scientists are not sure what can be done about this “garbage patch” but you can help by ensuring all plastics are recycled or re-used and don’t end up in our oceans. Sleep tight!
