Garbage in the Oceans: The Plastic Bag on the Side of the Highway

Have you ever walked by a plastic bottle or bag on the street and wondered, "Where will this end up?"

Turtles often mistake debris as food

A gust of wind is all it takes for an empty shopping bag to be the cause of death for an innocent organism. Once the bag is blown into the water ways, it makes its journey into the ocean. The bag is then partially broken down by the sun, but it does not completely degrade. The smaller pieces of plastic usually end up in a gyre. A gyre is a circular rotation of water currents that is the created by wind. The earth has five major gyres. Trash often times ends up in gyres which yield a vortex of debris. The organisms living in the same environment as gyres are greatly affected by the overwhelming amount of invasive debris.

Garbage Accumulated in a Gyre

Currently, there are approximately 5.25 trillion pieces of garbage in the world's oceans. This trash has had a profound effect on sea life and the environment. Although, large pieces of plastic are broken down into smaller pieces, much of this waste cannot be decomposed, and thus, accumulates in the ocean. Often times fish and other aquatic organisms mistake pieces of plastic as food, which can have a life threatening impact on them. Not only does trash accumulate in the ocean and harm life there, it also washes up onto the beaches. This affects the habitat of many birds and turtles, which causes a threat to their environment, and their ability to survive.

It is estimated that in 2050 there will be more pieces of garbage in the ocean than fish, if people continue to pollute the ocean at the same rate in which it is occurring today. The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) has worked to reduce the amount of pollution that the United States puts into the ocean. Important legislation has been passed that has caused significant gains in debris reduction in the ocean. MPRSA was passed in 1972 and has regulated what can and cannot be dumped into the ocean. It identified the ocean as a place not acceptable for the dumping of certain wastes. In 1988, MPRSA was amended by the Ocean Dumping Ban Act. This forbade the dumping of "medical waste" and industrial waste into the ocean. California passed legislation to help reduce the amount of plastic bags produced. This in turn reduces the amount of plastic bags that will end up in the ocean. The ban on plastic bags means that people will either have to bring reusable bags with them when they shop, or they will have to pay for a paper bag. The United States regulation of waste in the ocean has helped marine life significantly. However, many countries, especially in Asia, do not regulate disposal of garbage in the oceans.

The Ocean Cleanup Trapping Debris from the Ocean

Luckily, there is hope for our oceans. Cleanup programs such as "The Ocean Cleanup" have begun their work to combat the 5 trillion pieces of garbage in the ocean. This program utilizes a passive mechanism that cooperates with the natural current of the gyres to move the trash into systems which will allow the trash to be taken out of the ocean and returned to land. Then what? The program then plans to develop a system in which the debris can be recycled and reused into new products. It is estimated that this program will be able to reduce the amount of debris in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (the biggest in the world and not too far from our home turf) by 50% in five years.