Clean Up the North Pacific Gyre
The largest landfill in the world consists of non-biodegradable plastics floating in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
Between southern California and Hawaii is the North Pacific Gyre, where the water currents create a slow moving vortex. These currents have drawn in vast amount of garbage and plastic in the past 100 years, which has won it the name "The Great Pacific Garbage Patch".
The Eastern Patch alone is over twice the size of Texas and will surely grow if we do not take every effort we can to clean up this mess.
Not only is it a danger to marine life, but to tourists and fishermen. Plastics are not biodegradable, and so they may break down from sunlight over time, but remain plastic and release harmful chemicals. They are often mistaken as food by many marine animals which they may die from, or eventually get into the food chain.
The first step is to simply stop consuming so much plastic we know will stay here for such a long time. Use safer products like glass and do not buy products with extra packaging. Refuse to use plastic bags at the grocery store.
Secondly, we must make all efforts to begin the task of cleaning the ocean. Only about 20% of water pollution is cargo from ships. The other 80% comes from land. We must help fix what we caused.
Congress must see the importance of this issue. Please urge them to begin a cleanup and phase out of chemicals and pollutants in the Pacific Gyre.
The largest landfill in the world consists of non-biodegradable plastics floating in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
Between southern California and Hawaii is the North Pacific Gyre, where the water currents create a slow moving vortex. These currents have drawn in vast amount of garbage and plastic in the past 100 years, which has won it the name "The Great Pacific Garbage Patch".
The Eastern Patch alone is over twice the size of Texas and will surely grow if we do not take every effort we can to clean up this mess.
Not only is it a danger to marine life, but to tourists and fishermen. Plastics are not biodegradable, and so they may break down from sunlight over time, but remain plastic and release harmful chemicals. They are often mistaken as food by many marine animals which they may die from, or eventually get into the food chain.
The first step is to simply stop consuming so much plastic we know will stay here for such a long time. Use safer products like glass and do not buy products with extra packaging. Refuse to use plastic bags at the grocery store.
Secondly, we must make all efforts to begin the task of cleaning the ocean. Only about 20% of water pollution is cargo from ships. The other 80% comes from land. We must help fix what we caused.
Congress must see the importance of this issue. Please urge them to begin a cleanup and phase out of chemicals and pollutants in the Pacific Gyre.
Plastics will remain here for a long time as they are not biodegradable. Their particles will remain plastic and collect and release harmful chemicals.
As this garbage patch grows, more and waste is being washed up on shores and is steadly being injested through the food chains to humans. Down the line, these molecules of plastic may do great harm to our bodies and is likely to destroy the habitat of many creatures.
Tiny lentel-size plastic particles, called nurdles, are floating in oceans, creeks, storm drains, and all water sources. These come about from the breakdown of plastic pollution. Plastic acts as a sort of sponge, absorbing harmful chemicals like DDT and PCB, which were banned in the 70s, but never cleaned out. These nurdles have become supersaturated poison pills.
Nurdles are mistaken as fish eggs by many animals, and are even in our hair and skin. Over time, the effect of these chemicals could be neurological, reproductive, and developmental problems in marine life, and in humans.
We are urging you to make an effort to begin a clean-up effort of these areas. It will be a difficult and costly task, but can you really put a price on humanity and wildlife's healthy survival?
Thank you for taking the time to read and consider this issue.
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Geralyn M Brossart
I wish people visiting Hawaii would be more eco-conscious. I just moved here and am in shock at all the plastic garbage everywhere..And the smokers who just throw their butts around..well, let's get people educated!
We need to start cleaning this mess up now. I'm sure people from all over the country would step up to the plate and help out.
I believe it is up to us to stop the cycle of throwing everything away and start cleaning up now
The U.S. is largely responsible for this mess that has caused the needless deaths of millions of birds and fish. I believe it's up to us to clean it up!
we have power; not only to destroy but to fix and heal. it is a disgrace for animals to be eating plastic because of us.
The Earth is on loan to us. We need to take care of it. It is not just our generation that we need to be considering. Thank you.
Life Out Of Balance
I hope this get enough people
The North Pacific Gyre should be cleaned up, starting sooner than later. This is a job for the U.S., Chinese, and other navies and militaries, and a jobs opportunity for fished-out industrial fishing vessels -- an opportunity to practice "the moral equivalent of war" and start to reverse one of the sorrier effects of humanity on the planet and its other natives.
I agree the US Congress should do something about the mess. Between CA and HI, we obviously created the mess, we should clean it up.
I am 12 now and the world is like this. I cant imagine what it is going to be like when i am older! I hope that the adults now start caring about their childrens future and start making the right choices.
This is not just a matter of sending a boat out to pick up the garbage. We need to collectively reduce the use of plastics and develop ecologically sound alternatives. Marine education--developing knowledge and appreciation for the services the ocean provides us should be a mandatory part of every k-12 Earth Science program in our public schools.
I did not know until yesterday that such a thing could exist. It saddens me that we are poisoning our earth and ourselves without recognizing the seriousness of the situation.
We as a society created this mess. Now that we know it exists it is our responsiblity to clean it up. We can talk the environmental talk. Let's start walking the walk. Yes it will be expensive but what is the incalculable cost of ignoring this massive problem?
You want the children to have beaches, not landfills.
I grew up in Santa Cruz, surfed all my life, and there really is no place like the pacific....I love it and it needs protection!
It is our job to keep our oceans clean of pollution and liter. As concerned citizens, we urge Congress to cleanup the Pacific Gyre. If we don't take action, who will?
For the sake of our world and grandchildren, please pass legislation to penalize use of non-biodegradable plastics and encourage the use of other safe, reusable containers.
i don like garbage i don liiiiiike u
I hope it is alright that I have added a link to this petition page to my website, which has a modern fantasy story that in at least one chapter contains this problem as a side-plot.
I will do what I can to make information about this garbage dump available to my students. If my generation has created this problem, it is up to us to accept this responsibility and to address the results of our own neglect and thoughtlessness.
Maybe we should all watch the movie Soilent Green once more. We are heading in that direction.
I am 20 years old. What we do today affects my grandkids! We need to do what God intended for us to do: be stewards of the environment. Let's clean-up our mess. Let's fix our planet.
This is very sad. As a marine scientist I'm alarmed at the potential for environmental destruction this has. As a citizen, I'm ashamed and angry that this thing even exists. Ocean dumping is not such a good idea after all, eh?
This is incredible what is happening out in the ocean because of us (People OF The World)
I could not believe devestation this is causing to our oceans and all the fish and animals that rely on it. This is definitely needed and would be a great step in the right direction to prevent more loss of life. I hope you get many more supporters on this.
This problem is only going to get worse through time. I would also like to see an effort on PREVENTION of the release of plastics!
PLEASE CLEAN IT UP.
