August 8, 2007
Ship Graveyard
Posted by dottie at 9:47 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 13, 2007
Plastic People
This is a chilling article about plastic debris accumulating in the North Pacific Sub-tropical gyre.
Ultimately this is a very bad thing as the plastic that is swirling around there ends up in the food chain and ultimately in us.
Sea creatures cannot avoid these plastics. They ingest them thinking they are food, they get tangled in them and cannot escape.
While some steps are underway to create plastics that are biodegradable and non-toxic (even so-called 'safe' plastics release toxic chemicals) the vast majority of manufacturers and consumers are ignorant of the reality; plastics are poisoning us.
Plastic will break down over the years, but the molecules seldom break apart resulting in a situation where the ocean is suffused with molecules of plastic - plastic that is almost impossible to separate. These plastic molecules have an affinity for certain classes of toxic chemicals that bind to the plastic molecules. This toxic mess is then concentrated in ocean creatures and will inevitably rise up the food chain.
The article poses the question; why do we need to make ketchup bottles and six-pack rings that last centuries longer than we do?
When time comes for the archaeologists to undertake digs on 20th and 21st century they will find a layer of plastic and little else.
Posted by dottie at 12:04 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack