Written By Michelle Haun
Trash island is a name thrown around by quite a few. What can be misleading about this name is that many think there are literal islands of trash that can be seen by anyone looking. Although this is inaccurate, it doesn’t take away the very real and deep impact this trash has on our oceans. A more accurate name for trash island is garbage patches, which is trash that is in the ocean. Any type of trash can end up in the ocean. Such as, medical waste, glass bottles, aluminum cans, fishing gear, and much more. However, plastic is the majority of the trash. Up to an estimated 199 million tons are currently in the ocean. The largest garbage patch existing is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch located in the North Pacific Ocean. Its surface area is twice the size of Texas. It’s also referred to as a plastic vortex because it’s confined by the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. A gyre is a large system of swirling ocean currents. Although China is ranked #1 for ocean pollution, the United States has a more consequential waste per person contribution and is in the top 20 for mismanaged waste. 50% of the 300 million tons of plastic created yearly is single use only.
Let’s talk about what exactly garbage patches are since it’s been established they are not islands filled with trash. Garbage patches make up two components. The first being there is no land at all. These heaps of trash are just that, trash. All consisting of mostly plastic and other debris. Once these plastics hit the oceans they break apart more and more but will not break down completely for hundreds of years. Plastic takes 500-1,000 years to fully break down. This process creates microplastics along the way which aren’t always seen by the naked eye. There is an estimated 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic in the ocean while 269,000 tons of plastic float on the surface. Most of what can be seen floating looks like muddy soup. The chunks that are visible is the trash that hasn’t broken apart. The next component is what’s beneath the surface. What doesn’t float, sinks down below. 70% of the plastic polluting the ocean sinks down into the ocean’s ecosystem. The trash that sinks ranges in depths from a couple meters, down to the seafloor. The seafloor beneath consists of the sunken heaps of trash. What people visibly see isn’t the full picture. What has sunk below is the most concerning. Only 15% of the trash floats and the other 15% ends up on the beaches. This is concerning because people are not aware of the gravity of this issue.
Now that we know what these garbage patches are, let’s discuss how it ended up like this. The first factor is attributed to not recycling. This contributing factor is because recyclables end up in the landfill instead of the proper receptacles. When these plastics are being transported to the landfill they easily get blown away because of how light weight they are. Same thing goes for when plastic is piled up and overflowing in trash cans. The wind simply carries it away. The plastic then ends up in the streets and eventually collects around storm drains and rivers. However long it may take, the plastic eventually ends up in the ocean. There are 10 rivers that contain 90% of the debris that makes its way to the ocean. The other reason plastic ends up in the ocean is from littering. Illegal dumping is unfortunately a huge form of this. Other forms of littering are those who simply choose to not properly dispose of their trash and recyclables. The last main reason trash ends up in our oceans is from products that go down the drain. A big offender in this is the flushable wipes. Even though they are labeled to be such, many are not biodegradable. The ones that are, need the right environment to break down and sitting in sewers won’t accomplish that. There isn’t enough time to break down naturally in the sewers so they eventually end up in the ocean along with all the other products people flush, such as sanitary products. 700,000 microplastic fibers also end up in the waterways from a single wash when using a washing machine. All of this to be said, 80% of plastic in the ocean originates on land.
We have covered what trash in the ocean is and where it comes from. Let’s add the last, most important piece, the impact 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic has on our ocean and its inhabitants. There are 500 marine locations that are considered dead zones due to the hazardous conditions. 100,000 million marine animals die each year from these garbage patches. 1 in 3 get entangled and 12-14,000 tons of plastic are ingested by the North Pacific fish yearly. What many don’t know is the microplastics consumed by fish are then consumed by us. By 2050, our dumped plastic will outnumber the polluted fish. The reproductive health of many fish is harmed due to the toxins in the plastic they are consuming. However, fish are not the only creatures that are affected by our pollutants. Many sea animals and birds have become strangled from plastic rings. Sea turtles mistake plastic bags for jellyfish and birds will see smaller pieces of plastic as fish eggs. Not only are turtles and seabirds eating plastic but whales and seals are as well. Discarded fishing nets will trap dolphins, sea lions, and smaller fish. These sea creatures will continue to be trapped by plastic and ingest it because they can’t differentiate plastic from food.
What can be done is the question that begs for an answer by many. Unfortunately, the largest garbage patch is so far away from any country’s coastlines, no nation will take responsibility for it. The man who discovered it, Charles Moore, said the garbage patch “would bankrupt any country” that tried cleaning it up. Until a resolution can be found for this difficult situation, we can, at the bare minimum, stop contributing to these garbage patches. Limiting or eliminating the use of disposable plastic is what we can individually do. We need to increase the use of biodegradable resources. The next thing we can do is talk about it. Not many people even know what’s floating around in our oceans. The more people that can be educated about this, the more that can be done. You may think one person recycling and not littering won’t make any difference but that is not true. More people who take action will make a significant difference. Education is key. People don’t know what they don’t know. We need to speak about this. We need to spread awareness.
List of Works Cited:
Marine & Ocean Pollution Statistics & Facts 2023
Great Pacific Garbage Patch
https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/great-pacific-garbage-patch/
Ocean Pollution and Marine Debris
How Does Plastic End Up in the Ocean?
https://www.wwf.org.uk/updates/how-does-plastic-end-ocean
Why You Should Never Flush Wipes, Even if They’re Biodegradable
https://www.natracare.com/blog/can-you-flush-wet-wipes-even-biodegradable-wipes/
Marine Debris
https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/marine-debris/