GREAT PACIFIC GARBAGE PATCH

So I’m sure you all know someone who thinks littering is OK, right? Maybe you’ve even done it a couple times. “What difference does one paper gum wrapper make?” you might think, when the ground is already covered in random garbage…

Well, Greenies have I got news for you! Have you ever heard of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch? (and no, I didn’t just make that up). The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a mass of bottles, cans, bags, and every different type of plastic imaginable floating out in the middle of the ocean. The floating mass is actually bigger than the size of the UNITED STATES! The garbage weighs over 100 million tones and over 80% of it floated hundreds of miles out to sea, carried by underwater currents from the land!!

So what does all this floating plastic do to our environment? Well for starters, after spending some time in the ocean, the garbage eventually breaks down into smaller pieces that are then mistaken for food by fish and birds. Once ingested, the garbage can then make them sick, and many times even kill them.

So considering that SO MUCH of this garbage comes from the land and floats out to sea, think twice next time you think about dropping some garbage on the ground. Be a responsible Greenie by asking others not to litter as well, because chances are that the litter will end up adding to the already massive Great Pacific Garbage Patch!

For more information on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch check out this link: http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23156399-2,00.html