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Description: Life’s a Beach…Clean It Up!
On September 19th, organizations and individuals will participate in the Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup, a worldwide volunteer event that engages the public to remove trash and debris from our planet’s beaches and waterways. Oceanic pollution is a very serious issue and one in which we must become the solution. A stark example of its severity is the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch.”
The “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” is a giant floating debris field roughly the size of Texas that stretches approximately 500 nautical miles from the coast of California to Japan. The patch has been created over many years by trash and debris blown from the land, tossed from ships and oil platforms, and washed directly into the sea from storm drains.
The majority of the patch consists of broken down plastic bits floating just under the water’s surface like confetti, basically a soupy mix of plastic-filled seawater laden with the toxic chemical Bisphenol A. UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) has reported that plastic accounts for 90% of all floating debris in the oceans. Every square mile of our seas contains upwards of 46,000 pieces.
Date: 2009-09-19
