Islands of Plastic, Wilderness Full of Trash

All those millions of plastic bottles we use for a few minutes every day but that last for hundreds of years, where do they all go? And all the other nearly indestructible, though briefly used, hunks of plastic we shed like skin cells? Most end up in landfills where our great great grandchildren, many times over, will still be dealing with them. But many end up in the ocean, including in a Texas sized island of trash in the Pacific. From there, many wash up on the shores, including the wilderness of Alaska (if you can really call a beach strewn with garbage "wilderness" any more). All this plastic creates yet more pressure on our already endangered sea life.

This New York Times Magazine article looks at the issue through a probably quixotic clean up of one such Alaska beach.

One key paragraph from the article:

Eventually we will have to abandon planned obsolescence, and instead manufacture products that are durable, easily recyclable or both, Moore said. And we will have to overcome our addiction to conspicuous consumption.

Seems a bit obvious by now, though you wouldn't think so by our lack of action. As always, I refer you to McDonough and Braungart's Cradle to Cradle for the bible on how we can design the things we use without creating islands of plastic and beaches strewn with garbage.

These guys are in the middle of sailing a boat made of garbage from California to Hawaii to bring attention to the same issue. Happy sailing, fellows, and may the wind soon be at your back!