I spent the first part of the morning today reading the Globe & Mail, a national Canadian newspaper. I came across this article titled ‘A Sea of Synthetic Trash’ and the accompanying video ‘Synthetic Sea: Plastic in the Open Ocean‘ regarding Charles Moore’s research. These are unsettling reports that reveal these two key dead zones in the Pacific Ocean where there are rarely any winds and currents and therefore avoided by ships. These “gyres” are where the ocean trash collects and floats.

Here is the map of the two major gyres in the Pacific:

So what basically has happened is plastic bags and other plastic waste end up being thrown off boats and ships as well as run off in streams and rivers from the land into the ocean. A high percentage of the plastics end up in these gyres but they also end up on remote, unpopulated island beaches. The lighter grade plastic gets broken up into plastic fragments and are consumed by smaller birds and small fish that feed on plankton. Ultimately plastics and a whole lot of chemical crap that adheres to the plastic fragments end up in the food chain and ultimately us, as humans.

Ok, so this whole thing about being responsible for the people and world around us can get overwhelming at times and this morning was one of those moments for me. It’s scary to think how we/I take so much for granted (packaging of products, shopping bags, etc.) without even thinking of the impact at our personal level, let alone the global. In the past 3-4 years we have chosen to recycle cardboard, all paper, metal, plastic as much as possible. Our town of Canmore is very progressive in recycling and I think we can recycle about 80% of plastic that we consume.

But after reading today’s news article and viewing the video I felt anger and the need to do more. I am starting by writing this blog entry and will try to personally discover how to be active re initiating change regarding the current crisis of plastic in our oceans as well as the current acceptance towards consuming plastic without a second thought in our every day lives. I hope everyone who reads this blog will rise up to the challenge as well.