The Great Pacific Garbage Patch: "Out of Sight, Out of Mind"

Any ideas for a cleanup??

Has anyone seen any aerial/satellite photos of this? I've been looking for a while without any luck. could be a powerful image if it exists.

Solar powered trawlers? Floating self-powering clean-incinerator boats?

Best picture I could find...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/59204382@N00/2056712238/

How about a Plasma Gassification Plant?

I read somewhere that satellite images don't show the trash because it is mostly small plastic particles which reflect light and do not photograph well. In that same article they said cleanup would be next to impossible: cost, size, etc.

This immediately brought to my mind the article that claimed a specialized microwave could turn plastic back into oil.

http://environment.newscientist.com/article/dn12141

If it works, and if it is efficient enough to net energy, there may be a day when someone builds a large floating refinery to scoop up the plastic from the gyre, nuke it into oil, and pump it into waiting tankers.

Also, I'd like to add my voice to those requesting photos. I think satalite photos would not be detailed enough, but a picture with people on a boat surrounded by garbage as far as the eye can see--that should drive home the point.

Is this pollution that has settled underwater or floating above sea level? From the looks of the image, these areas are in the middle of the ocean, miles below sea level. I don't think cleanup on that large of a scale in these areas would even be possible, let alone feasible, especially with the priorities of the country so out of whack. Also, I don't think aerial photography would be possible if the pollution is underwater.

Would make a great use for robotic sail boats with collection compartments? Or combined sail, solar and wind generators?

I wonder if bulk sail cargo carriers with self power assist for docking would be viable today?

vsk

while it's a lot of junk, this is not a big raft of junk, its things floating on and below the surface. it's something like one piece for every ~500 square feet of ocean surface.

not dense enough to really see from space, or be terribly easy to tidy up.

How stupid are we to think that these actions have absolutely no consequence...

@Kristopher: The Independent (UK) is reporting that it can't be seen from above. I'll copy the bit:

- Mr Moore said that because the sea of rubbish is translucent and lies just below the water's surface, it is not detectable in satellite photographs. "You only see it from the bows of ships," he said. -

@ Kristopher Larsen, i don't think that you can see it by airplane or even by boat. The fact is that most part of the garbages are above ocean's surface...

i mean below... sorry

There's a good video online from a few years back, all about the Garbage Patch Gyre here: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3892310789953943147

There was also a really good series in the LA TImes last year that's worth taking a look at... if you don't want to sleep anymore. Check it out here: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/oceans/la-oceans-series,0,7842752.special

It's all part of a much larger issue

We really need more public awareness of the consequences of plastics.

Maybe TREX or some other plastic recycling manufacturer could scoop up the plastics and reform them into something more useful??afterall, if they're taking my plastic bags at the grocery store, why not get a trawler and start scooping up the profits?

Hello. We are talking about stuff that is often minuscule in size, spread out over an enormous remote area, contaminated with sea water and stuff growing on it, and weighs 100 million tons!

There is no realistic fix. We as a species actually need to stop producing and using so much plastic.

Alan Weisman's excellent book, The World Without Us, has a section about this gyre on page 122. Most of the plastic garbage comes from the land. Since plastic doesn't biodegrade, it overtime, blows in the wind or flows down rivers until it reaches the sea. Currents then take it all over the ocean, with much of it ending up in the huge North Pacific gyre.

More from the book:

There is six times more plastic than plankton on the gyre's surface! In India alone, 5,000 processing plants produce plastic bags. Kenya makes 4000 tons of plastic a month with no potential for recycling. Filter-feeders such as jellyfish and salps try to eat the plastic nurdles that litter the ocean by the billions thinking them to be fish eggs or krill. Toxins from plastic are contaminating the food chain.

All of this plastic has appeared in barely more than 50 years. Except for a small amount that's been incinerated, all of it is still with us somewhere in the environment. It surpasses 1 billion tons and continues to accumulate at a high rate.

There are skimmer boats that work the rivers around New York City to pick up wind blown garbage. If the material is large enough and close enough to the surface such a skimmer could capture it. If the material is suspended deep enough, even 2-3 meters it might require a different method to capture. I doubt this could be done for profit, but a cleanup effort might be funded by Pacific Rim countries that have contributed to the mess.

As far as disposal, plasma gasification does seem like the best idea. The material is mostly hydrocarbons, so it would be broken down to CO and H otherwise known as syngas. It could be burned in a gas turbine to generate electricity. You'd end up with a much smaller amount of slag including metals used as stabilizers and colorants. That would probably be toxic and have to be landfilled appropriately.

Organic material wouldn't pose a problem as it would be broken down by the plasma arc into CO and H, too.

Lovely. Another thing to worry about. I wonder how many other disgusting and horrible things we have caused?

And most floats, some sinks. It would cost billions of dollars to clean up. But then, what will billions of dollars be when the earth is a big ball of trash?

This is such a sad fact. I almost wish Hawaii were in the middle of it - maybe we would have done something sooner.

Every single person on Earth would have to pick up 50 pounds of trash to clean it up. That's just the Pacific. One has to imagine the Atlantic has just as much, somewhere.

If only 1 in 100 people cares enough to help, participants would have to pick up 5000 pounds of trash - each.

The reality is, we are all responsible for it.

The plastic kills birds and turtles by clogging them. Then, the plastic is the only part to remain intact as the animals bio-degrade, so it can kill again.

I plan to do my fair share in my local area. I live in Florida where there are lots of small ponds where beautiful birds come to drink. It is more enjoyable than I would have imagined to clean up the trash I find on the shores. I just bring one small bag at a time and it only takes a few minutes to fill. I end up getting most of the trash I see.

We also have to reduce our consumption - be mindful of the number of extra bags stores tend to offer.

Please help.

@ Kristopher et al: there's no question we're producing too much plastic and it's trashing the planet, but seriously doesn't it strike all of you as strange that we're hearing reports of a trash clump the size of Hawaii, and no one can produce any images of it.

Whenever I hear about this phenomena there's a picture or video of trash in the ocean, but it's never THE plastic island. I understand the current/gyre idea, it looks clear there's lots of trash in certain areas, but does this thing exist as a clump or not? If there's no actual 'island,' than we detract from the larger issue by framing the discussion this way.

maybe we just found a use for all those destructive trawling fishing boats. Would need the government to pay them to do it ( i doubt the garbage has much 'value' to a recycler). The cost maybe huge- but not doing anything may ultimately be even more expensive. :(

This is such a damned shame and I'm really disappointed to hear so many people say (online) how there's nothing that can be done.

I'm challenging that statement and will be working to prove them wrong, while raising awareness in the mass media and public eye.

To that end, I've started a website to serve as HQ for these efforts, at the aptly named site:

http://www.greatpacificgarbagepatch.com

Please come by and say hi, we'd love to hear your feedback there on this and any related issues.

This is such a damned shame and I'm really disappointed to hear so many people say (online) how there's nothing that can be done.

I'm challenging that statement and will be working to prove them wrong, while raising awareness in the mass media and public eye.

To that end, I've started a website to serve as HQ for these efforts, at the aptly named site:

http://www.greatpacificgarbagepatch.com

Please come by and say hi, we'd love to hear your feedback there on this and any related issues.

To me it would be great to work with a couple of terr huggarsputting together a grant asking for funding to be able to see how much profet could be maid from mining this blight on our children we have been asleep at the wheelnow is time to once again get to it!I have many ideas on what to wright. I do not find joy in working alone!Are you out there reading this if so call me cell to cell or fi you are like me you can call collect, jest state name andplastic trash,we will connecy. my numbers are land line 8089551246 cell 8082286987. I look foward to being on a large ship exploring this treshure of our making...,,1IF ONLY!!! p,s.lets make building blocks they can be made in any shape as orbered and they will last a very long time . this could work,, join me, we will help MOTHER EARTH ....lets have some real ffffuuuuu, ok by me ..how about YOU???

ALOHA ALWAYS
LARRY RODRIQUES
YOUR BROTHER FROM ANOTHER MOTHER

I have looking for info on this and see about 1 articles worth of info repeated about 100 different ways..multiple links to pictures that have no relevance such as a picture of a net then a picture of some plastic garbage on the floor??? No satellite pictures and a bunch of lame excuses why a garbage patch twice the size of texas cant be seen and wait...????that must be about 1600 miles wide covering most of the distance between calif and Hawaii??? or how about a picture of a decomposing bird that looks like some kid put a bunch of taquria salsa containers in its rib cage.... I see birds and animals eat and it is amazing how birds will eat A LIZARD and spit out its bones and how most animals can eat food but avoid th rocks and dirt picked up off the ground with that food... but they gobble down plastic???

I appreciate the concern for the environment and agree things need to be done... but when propaganda and misinformation is spread and regenerated it makes the whole cause loose because i cant believe anything said

seems a respectable researcher might have an unedited video of a net being thrown in the waTER and pulling it up with a bunch of garbage

still waiting for a link to some compelling info...any?

At the end of the day its too late. Who cares about the rubbish in the ocean. I know that this problem doesnt affect us at the present but our future generations will suffer. Well look at all the problems we have at the moment. There are wars, people are starving, and people are dying. Who really cares about the future if we cant help our people in the present.

This was the original artical i read printed by The Independent (London), 2-5-08 is in full below my comments.

The reports I have seen on this vary from the size of Texas to as large as 2x the United States land mass. I have seen numerous pictures of garbage washed up on shores, inlets, and islands and even a neatly arranged set of syringes washed up on the beach. I still cant find a picture of this "soup" all the articles keep mentioning. I saw a sat pic that showed the currents, but nowhere did i see a 100 million tons of plastic debris. clear plastic or not something that big would be easily seen by the naked eye for a good distance. I think its like the global warming thing "it may not be true but we have to do someting to prevent it from happening" All this sounds like to me is just another way for the US Government to raise taxes, because this giant mass of floating garbage is all the fault of the United States of course. link a pic of this floating garbabe dump and Ill gladly withdraw my comments. And dont talk about it being underwater becasue if it was who was the guy that saw it to tell the tale?

Since at least the early 1990s, trillions of discarded plastic items have converged, held together by swirling currents, to form the Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch that now covers an area twice the size of the United States and weighs about 100 million tons. "Every little piece of plastic manufactured in the past 50 years that made it into the ocean is still out there," said one researcher quoted in a February dispatch in London's The Independent. An oceanographer predicted that the Patch would double in size in just the next decade. A 2006 United Nations office estimated that every square mile of ocean contains, on average, 46,000 pieces of floating plastic. [The Independent (London), 2-5-08]

Helpme..:
Who cares about our present when there is no future?

Where do we start?
and where does all the plastic go once it is collected?
why aren't there any good picture of the vortex?
Why don't enough people know about this?

We need to act on this situation, spread awareness, and refuse, reuse, reduce, recycle plastic use.

There are no pictures because there are none
the point is i tried to look up information to back up what that article said and was unable to find any scientific evidence to support the story

The Independent (London), 2-5-08

We all need to do our part to limit our impact on the earth

but don't spread misinformation

here are some of the clues that you may be being duped by the news/media

when they quote a researcher but don't provide a name

"said one researcher"
"An oceanographer predicted "

or

they use information from what sounds like an official or important organization but in reality could be anybody

"A 2006 United Nations office estimated "

there is not one person or institution name in the article.

"Any ideas for a cleanup??"

Sure, if you've got a couple hundred billion dollars that you don't need and would like to donate.

On a serious note they say this thing is bigger than texas how come there are only a few questionable photos of something supposedly so large? If it is submerged and not floating how do they know that it is bigger than texas in the first place? Also, if it's submerged it wouldn't really be an "island" of garbage would it?

Did researchers swim or navigate along it taking measurements? I do not doubt the amount of garbage in the oceans, I guess I'm just agitated that there are no decent photos of this phenomenon even though people go on spouting its apparent size.

Regardless of whether or not this "soup" exists, the fact is that we need to all be aware and responsible for how we treat this planet. We have to start somewhere, and even if it seems a small part, every bit makes a difference. It is a HUGE problem and there are no easy answers, though education and research on better alternatives to plastics may be in the long run a better way of tackling this problem.

MAIL YOUR PLASTIC TRASH TO GOVERNOR SCHWARZENEGGER!

WE NEED STRICTER MEASURES ON SINGLE USE PLASTICS
AND BETTER MANAGEMENT OF URBAN RUN-OFF/ WATERSHEDS IN THE BAY AREA.

HELP US SHOW GOVERNOR SCHWARZENEGGER THAT PLASTICS ARE A SERIOUS ISSUE!

For more information visit:

PlasticJelly.com

So I just an average Joe. I was reading "turn on the tap" in Natural Health and it talked about the Great Pacific garbage patch.

Some one asked for solutions

I am interested in being more of a solutions oriented person.

I been Wondering why just getting in there and taking it out and processing it, is that not possible.

Why we can't just put together a fishing group to trull for plastics, in the worst areas. Bring to gather the biotechnologies that can deal with this. We remove thousands of pound of fish and shrimp from the ocean ever day. Can we look at that technology's to remove the Plastic. Yes we would take some plankton out with it, but it will grow back stronger if there is more room to grow. AS for what to do with it once we have it. I thought i heard about bacteria and mold that can break it down.

If we just keep plugging away at getting it out it will help in time and with a lot of people cutting back on use and doing more recycling. We must go at this from many directions. It could create a lot of jobs.

Why can't we have trash nets, for larger items, in the water at the opening where the plastics come into the ocean.

Why not trash nets right near major cities.

Whats wrong with approaching big businesses to fund something like this. Or creating another arm of the Gov, or non profit org to over see it. Some one out there Busting balls Like Green peace and taking action and telling people what going on. A front runner Group pushing all this and keeping it in focus and create the change. Attacking the problem from manny directions

Here is my idea on how to deal with it.
Step one
Find out if Some one has a plan on how to deal with it.
If they don't
Get funding for creating plan.
Using online sources as well as government grants and angel Funding from big contributors.
You would need to time some one who works with venture capitalists and people who hand out money for stuff like this.
Wile doing this approach leaders in this field and make connections.
Create a video blog about the experience and all of your actions. including interviews and a Day to day.

Step two
Create a plan
Approach the leaders in the field ask them how to take care of it. Bring technologies and ideas together to deal with it. Whats the most effect way to get the plastic out of the water, What to do with it once you get it out.
Address all aspect of issue using information that is out there and people who are already involved. Find out if there is a way someone can make $ off it. If they can create a new industry. People could buy products recycled with plastics from the ocean, as a marketing tool for social change.

Step 3
Draw support, get more funding for implementation:
Use grass roots, big business and gov to put the plan in motion.
Go to the people Have awareness Gatherings, circle the plan around on the web. Viral Videos on what is being done.

Step 4 Implement:

Use contacts made and people around you as well as others to implement plan.

There you go now I hope I gave this to the correct person.

Michelle

Last time my son threw a plastic toy into the bathtub it floated. How does 500 nautical miles of plastic remain submerged in the ocean and blind to the human eye? Someone please explain to me the physics of tons of plastic the size of Texas in the ocean (saltwater is more bouyant than my babies bathwater) yet in this day and age nobody can get a photo of it...

You people seem to be stuck with the idea of seeing a huge solid plastic island in your minds eye. That's probably why you're so annoyed and frustrated that you can't find what you are imagining?

It's more like smaller peices of plastic but lots and lots and lots of it swirling around like a stew or a soup....

60 minutes in Australia just ran this story, hopefully your 60 minutes will run a story on the garbage patch too.

watch 60 minutes video here (see below link) to see the huge amount of toxic garbage (trash) that is washing up on hawaii from that garbage patch

http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=598914

The City Council of L.A. just banned the use of plastic bags in stores to bring down the pollution that goes into the oceans. Hopefully all of the coast's cities will do the same so plastic bags don't go down storm drains and into the ocean anymore. Then we can start the clean up.

Just saw the article on junkraft and kept going of course..Seems to me beachcomers from every where would have a riot trying to find interesting items in the great pacific,atlantc,indian,arctic etc oceans of the world..Kayaks..listed as an item found in these large rotating oceanic sized whirlpools..where is the centre of the vortex being generated ?....likely some really old items that haven't been settled to the bottom of the seas where the archae would begin to remove life enhancings bits of the flotsam and jetsom to generate more life..Junk of course is in the eye of the beholder.....Marty Wolf

What if california had a contest to see who could collect the most of the plastic in the pacific and winner could get a prize for most buckets collected, and then used all the pellets retrieved to recycle into new bottles.

Anything is possible, if there is not enough money to do it get sponsers from companies that make plastics and encourage them to advertise that they are recycleable plastics.

take one step at a time and we will cure the plastic pacific.

hey why didnt you add what they are going to do to fix the pach of garbage and because of you i am going to flunk

p.s. my name is really chuky

hey why didnt you add what they are going to do to fix the pach of garbage and because of you i am going to flunk

p.s. my name is really chuky

To the Woman, named Michelle who called herself the "average joe"

I am the Correct Person for your "solutions!" I am the One who is creating a Project to Transform the Great Pacific Garbage Patch into a Marine Sanctuary-- for a Healthy and Vibrant Planet, Now!

Please contact me, I live in San Diego.

ANYTHING, IS REALLY POSSIBLE.

Thank you.

I will say it again I have a large ship and am willing to start the clean up tomorrow. I need some initial funding put your money where your mouth is and do something.

just burn the mass or sendi to space on a rocket.

that would solve the problem

viva la mexico.

MLK

I really like this web site it taught me very much on learning!

your website stinks and your website lokks like a bunch of bread

I know why there are no REAL pictures of this "disaster." You would think that some one who is really trying to get this thing cleaned up would have gone out there and maybe taken a peek at it? Maybe snapped a few shots and given them to CNN or some other Media outlet.. It is because it DOES NOT EXIST! If it did there would be some sort of photo evidence to back up the claim. I've been searching for the last 2 weeks for a REAL picture of this. Not from some satellite, but of some ones $15.00 disposable waterproof kodak camera. Those are the pictures we know we can trust.

Let me concede plastic is bad, it should be banned, we should refuse to take 'carrier bags' of plastic, we need to shift to bio degradable material, that aside but where is this ocean of plastic in this age of 'Google earth piercing capability of find even a needle in haystack.'

http://orvalguita.blogspot.com/2007/09/garbage-patch.html

This is the best pixs from the horse's mouth. They most likely got bored was not able to find any latest after 2007 and what they have now is a new planned charity based joy trip through the invisible vortex of plastics.

If one tries to pass water of any of the main global rivers through strainer you will get plastic debris far more than this in a wider sampling of Rhine, Nile or Amazon. In hi and low tide, I see new bottles of synthetics floating up on banks in Thames, although Thames is now the cleanest it ever was since medieval times. Even salmon has come back to Thames.

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/fiveyear-plan-marks-last-attempt-to-breed-salmon-in-thames-736752.html

http://orvalguita.blogspot.com/

There is no picture because there is no Texas size garbage; with Google earth I can look at my small play field ten thousand miles away but I cannot find a picture of this double the Texas size continent of plastics. It looks like only a figment of imagination. Suspended plastic and bottles do float in the ocean, there is a certain vortex but a coalesced 100 million ton of plastic will not be missed by astronauts up in the dock station or mariners down. Lets have a sensible debate, lets stop being cruel consumers and try to consume rationally that will solve all these problems of overheating and warming, the problem lies in help pattern of consumption and West has bad pattern. Period.

Even if the existence of these plastic swirls is blow way out of proportions, the truth of the matter is that this is not the only horrific problem pledging the earth. We're melting the poles, hunting the wild life into extension, burning the rain forests, fishing the oceans and lakes dry, Bla-bla and bla…the list is endless! Add to that swirlie mix the fact that the last time I watched the news the political parties in the country I live in (USA) couldn’t even stand being in the same room long enough to decide who was will to sit next to each other, much less address getting together to discuss cleaning up the earth. Perhaps it’s time to consider the “Disney Factor” as I like to call it. In my opinion we can believe one of two stories out there. #1: Mankind across the planet suddenly says something like, “O! We now collectively understand, so from here out all nations have decided to work as one to put the earth right again…of course, we’ll be doing away with all obstacles that could hamper our plans such as war, insurrections and world hunger.” Now #2: The people that come to your door and say, “Tell me what you think this means… ,“God will bring to ruin those ruining the earth” (Wrote that one down last book of the bible-11:18). So now here’s my question. Does #2 sound less Disney then #1 when we take a hard look at what going on, and if so should the bible people be invited in the next time they call?

EVERYONE..Lets stop talking and take action..how many days and then years are we going to yak and yakity yak about this, meanwhile the ocean is dying..and the fish that are eating the plastic will soon become fish that can digest the plastic, they will adapt over time and then humans will eat the fish with the plastic in its flesh, and then humans will die too...do we need to wait???

I have an idea, but I need the world to help...

We need to have a huge benefit concert, like LIVE AID all over again, and why not get Bob Geldolf on board..he did it once, and he can do it again...

After we do the live concert...we take the money and we begin phase 2..we get a freighter ship to sit near the garbage, it will be the container to hold the garbage. On board will be a plastic chipper to breakdown all the plastic. It doesnt need to be sorted. It is chipped and put in sacks. The sacks will eventually go to a melting plant and yes, like Larry said..the plastic will be re-melted in made into bricks, which can then be used as retaining walls or to build schools for those who need a school.

The garbage has to hand picked, as they say using a net will harm the ocean life that does exist..

But we invite the whole world..we get the united nations to make every country make a commitment of humans who do a rotation...we pull together and we reverse this thing and we leave the legacy that should be left for the future of the earth and the creatures who live in the ocean...

Just DO IT...get off your butt and just do it..come on why are you waiting..

to think that the swirl does not exist is pure ignorance. the fact that you can't see it shouldn't dampen the credibility of whats there. if you understand some simple facts about science and plastics you'll know that most of the garbage that's in the swirl is small particles. the fact that its small is what makes it dangerous. animals know whats harmful from large things, but when it's something that has reduced itself to the size of a pebble the animal is most likely going to swallow it not knowing that what it ate was harmful to itself.
there's my two cents on the subject

After five days of hectic search by Aircrafts and ships searching in a remote part of the Atlantic two bodies and debris have been found from the Air France plane which went missing over the Atlantic last Monday, the Brazilian air force has said. The remains were taken from the water early on Saturday morning, said spokesman Jorge Amaral. Experts on human remains are on their way to examine the find. After five days of search the little debris recovered did not belong to AF tragic flight.

This sad news shocks everyone our condolences to al the families that suffered from the tragedy, however it goes to show how clean our oceans are.

Until yesterday the debris across hundreds of miles of search area consisted of few oil slick and containers nothing serious so far: The Brazilian air force said debris had been spotted throughout the suspected crash area, but what they had recovered - buoys and the pallet - did not belong to the Airbus A330 jet. A large fuel slick initially spotted by search crews earlier this week and believed to be of the downed jet was also not the same as the one spotted near the pallet, according to the statement.
``Everything that was located on the surface of the ocean deserved attention on the part of the (search) aircraft,'' said the statement. ``An analysis of the material collected by the frigate Constitution demonstrated that the pallet did not belong to flight AF 447.''

If our oceans were full of trash AF missing bodies would be so difficult to find, the islands of trash and debris will mingle with other, the problem with the Air force pilots was lack of any debris just pure water, they pulled any sign of debris on the entire range of flight path finally after five days of search finally they pulled out two bodies and a seat, it is like picking up needle in millions of ton of haystack. For me this tragic accident does prove that we are not a race of environmental monsters. For me it is a kind of silver lining that gives me some hope from this stark tragedy.

I blogged about this at http://www.bluegreeneverywhere.com. I posted a sattelite photo of the Great Garbage Patch also.