#6 and the Environment

The French Ministry of Ecology calculated that over 14 million tonnes of Styrofoam are produced in the world each year. This is the equivalent to the weight of 93,000 blue whales (the volume of the Styrofoam is much greater than the volume of 93,000 whales because it is so light – it is 98% air), so the problem is where to put it all once we are done with it. Unlike blue whales, Styrofoam does NOT belong in our oceans. However, Styrofoam gets into the water through ocean dumping, it is easily blown by the wind because it is so light, and it goes through (and clogs) storm drains.

We know this because we have already created the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and have observed that it is 90% plastic. The following video explains what the Garbage Patch is:

Captain Charles Moore (discoverer of the Garbage Patch) said:

“My generation is the last to have ever experienced the ocean without plastic debris in it.”

Captain Paul Watson (Sea Shepherd Conservation Society) said: 

"The simple fact is that when you drop a Styrofoam cup onto the street, you're causing more damage than you would by dropping a stick of dynamite into the ocean. You set in motion an invasion of thousands of killer plastibots that will cause death and destruction for centuries to come.

For more information on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch you can go to http://www.greatgarbagepatch.org/

Mark Powell said:

"The plankton is thick, part of the time I can't see my fingertips with my arms extended in front of me. I watch above the surface or swim with one arm ahead of me at all times to avoid running into something."

I was reading Mark Powell's blog on Blogspot where he described each day of his thirty-eight day swim around Bainbridge Island. When I read the above quote about the amount of plankton in the water I was amazed but, more importantly, I wondered what it would be like if there was 6x as much plastic as there is plankton everywhere, instead of just in the Pacific Garbage Patch. It would be disgusting to swim in.

If not into our ocean, the Styrofoam goes to the landfill. Styrofoam makes up 25%-30% of our landfill. Below is a picture of the Cache Creek Landfill: