The North Pacific Trash Gyre

So when the environment is your passion, you learn about a lot of human induced fucked up shit that happens to Earth. I mean it really surprises me how much abuse Earth continually takes from us humans. Hands down, one of the scariest things I've learned about is the North Pacific Trash Gyre.

A lot of the plastic we use every year ends up in the ocean. The plastic that doesn't sink gets carried by ocean currents. Once this garbage reaches the Pacific it usually ends up in the Pacific Gyre. Because we consume so god damn much, this trash continues to accumulate. The size of the Trash Gyre is estimated to be at least the size of Texas, and takes up about 10% of the Pacific Ocean. 90% of this trash is plastic.

The plastic is broken down into extremely small pieces by the sun, but plastic will never biodegrade and will always remain a polymer. Plastic polymers will become small enough to enter the food chain through ingestion of aquatic animals.

To make matters worse, this oil based plastic can easily absorb chemicals the surrounding water and trash. Insectisides, pesticides, fungicides, coolants, PCBS and lubricants will affect marine birds, aquatic animals and humans.

(Plastic polymers found in this marine bird).

The moral of this story, is so similar to many others. Rely on reusable things, consume less, and waste less.

Easy ways to cut back:

1) Stop using disposable plates, utensils, and cups.

2) Why use plastic shopping bags-- buy those "green" canvas bags for clothes and food shopping.

3) Buy things in bulk-- less individually plastic wrapped items.

4) Be conscience of the life you are living.

E. O. Wilson coined the term biophilia as humans love of living things, our affinity with nature, and our innate tendency to focus on life and lifelike

processes.

I'm Michelle, a freshman at the University of Vermont, a place I call home. When I'm in Burlington, it's easy to be socially and environmentally conscience. It's so easy, that when I come back to North Jersey, I forget that Vermont is truly a progressive utopia. As an environmental studies major, I'm in the process of trying to figure out how to live a simple life when I am not in Vermont. How do I live sustainably when composting is not the norm, and no one cares about how harmful drinking bottled water can be? To create a sustainable world, we can't rely solely on government. In order to enact change, we need to change. It's time to consume less, waste less, look at the beauty of the simple life our ancestors lived.

I'm here now, to blog about my journey and my life. To post beautiful things that inspire me, while also giving a step by step guide of how to change myself, and hopefully those around me.

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