Plastic Soup
In January 08, I spent a month sailing across the infamous Pacific “Plastic
Soup” with Captain Charles Moore and crew from the Algalita Marine Research Foundation. Here’s one of many surface samples we collected for research and education:

The entire North Pacific Ocean is a huge rotating mass of water, roughly twice the size of the US.
Much of our plastic waste –
the millions of products we use and toss daily – end up here, condemned indefinitely to a watery grave. And now coming back to haunt us.

Plastic Sushi?
Last January, we brought back 500 Myctophids, called “lantern fish” back
from our ‘08 Gyre Expedition. Over half of these contained plastic particles in their stomachs. The record holder had 84 pieces of plastic in its gut - and these fish are only 2-3 inches long!  Lantern fish are common food for Tuna, Salmon, and Mahi Mahi, fish that you and I eat.

This past summer my fiancé caught a fish while rafting across the Pacific on 15,000 plastic bottles (www.junkraft.com) – a quick filet showed 17 pieces of plastic in its
stomach.

How might this be affecting us?
Numerous studies suggest that plastic leaches toxic chemicals into our food
and water - endocrine-disrupting chemicals that are linked to developmental
and reproductive problems in wildlife and humans.

In the ocean, plastic particles act as sponges for Persistent Organic
Pollutants (POPS) like PCBs, DDTs, and PAHs.

These particles are being eaten by hundreds of sea turtles, sea birds, and
fish, oh my.

The Big Question: are the chemicals sticking to these plastic particles
winding up in our sushi?

Disposable plastics make no cents
The state of California spends $72 million a year collecting and burying
disposable cups and bags – that’s your tax dollars at work! A Starbucks
waste audit found that its 13.5 million commuter-mug-toting customers kept
an estimated 586,800 pounds of paper and plastic lids from landfills in
2003. Now that’s no joke.

Landfills don’t grow on trees. As landfill space grows more and more
scarce, garbage costs are going to keep going up. The Puente Hills landfill
in LA, our nations largest, is reaching capacity, slated to shut down in
2013. We’ll then start filling up another trash pile in the Imperial Valley.