There is no doubt that our oceans are now beyond clean due to the use of single-use plastics. Our oceans have become garbage dumps after decades of indiscriminate use. Although it’s easy to blame individual actions, corporations that don’t take responsibility for the plastic they produce are harming everybody, especially marine life. Have you heard of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch? That’s right, it’s as bad as it sounds. In some parts of the oceans, there are garbage patches where so much garbage has accumulated that it is impossible to see the water. The trash vortex will not disappear on its own in the North Pacific Ocean. However, the Ocean Cleanup team is here to tidy it up!
According to CNET, Ocean Cleanup brought Jenny, its first large-scale cleaning system, online in August. Jenny had removed over 28,000 kilograms (63,000 pounds) of trash by November 8th. Ocean Cleanup calls this the ‘beginning of the end of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch’. Plastics play a crucial role in aggravating climate change. When heated, plastics in the ocean release greenhouse gases. Earth’s oceans collect at least 8 million tons of plastic every year.
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How could it be worse? Plastic waste in the Great Pacific Garbage Pitch sinks down to the bottom of the ocean, making the water appear ‘normal’. Almost everything humans create and consume has the potential to reach our oceans, since the Earth’s natural drainage system leads to the ocean. Boats and ships contribute significantly to ocean pollution as well. Ocean Cleanup estimates that the Great Pacific Garbage Patch covers 1.6 million square kilometers, about the size of Texas, the second-largest state in the United States. Even though such efforts may help remove trash from the oceans, the brakes must be pulled at the source of the plastic.
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