We are trashing the planet and its creatures in a very big way. The biggest "landfill" is midway between San Francisco and Hawaii, floating at the surface of the ocean, concentrated by the currents of the Pacific Gyre. Known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, it's roughly the size of Texas and contains about 3.5 millions tons of plastic trash. According to the Sea Studies Foundation, "every bit of plastic that has ever been created still exists, except for a small amount that has been incinerated, releasing toxic chemicals." The Earth cannot digest petroleum-based plastics. "Fish are ingesting toxins at such a rate that soon they will no longer be safe to eat." Plastic water bottles by the millions, their polypropylene caps, toothbrushes, plastic bags, toys, shoes, wrappers, are only part of the massive accumulation.
For more information on the problem, watch Captain Charles Moore's presentation at TED. The first part of cleaning up our act is to stop using so much plastic. Stop buying anything packaged in plastic, as much as possible. Do not use plastic shopping bags-- bring your own cloth bags to the store. This is a gigantic problem. Please do your part to minimize your own contribution to the garbage. Encourage your friends and family to learn about this and take action. Thank you.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
The Story of Bottled Water
Today is World Water Day and in the spirit of raising awareness, here is a great little video about the impact our obsession with bottled water has upon our planet. Take a few minutes to watch, then vow never to buy bottled water again!
If you want to learn more, visit this site for the documentary film TAPPED.
Right from its introduction, I have referred to bottled water as the biggest American rip-off ever and refused to buy it! I'd rather be thirsty. I continue to be incredulous that so many millions of bottles of water are sold every day. We fell hard for the corporate advertising tactics. Surely, we have some sense left to come back to. Carry a stainless or aluminum bottle with you and fill from the tap. There is clean water available for free everywhere. I thank you– the planet will benefit.
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