Trashy Habits

There are still people I talk with who know nothing about "The Great Pacific Garbage Patch" . Now wondering, what has happened to this thing?

Here's the background 411

The size of this mass believe it or not equivalent to that of the continental United States.

This huge garbage island is actually two different but linked areas – The Eastern Garbage Patch, is located between Hawaii and California and said to be the size of Texas. The Western Garbage Patch, spreads from the east of Japan to the west of Hawaii.

The patches are connected by a thin 6,000-mile long current called the Subtropical Convergence Zone. The patches are a mess and mass of debris and junk, human and otherwise collected from all corners. From discarded electronics, to children toys...it is a profusion of waste. The chief concentration though is as usual - plastic, abundant and unbiodegradable.


STATES TIDY UP

A look at the states that yielded the most coastal trash collected in the 2006
Trash (in pounds)
California 989,646
North Carolina 511,647
Florida 487,290
Texas 369,380
New York 272,157
Georgia 186,827
Virginia 151,432
Source: The Ocean Conservancy

In very recent news:
According to San Francisco Chronicle,
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom Plans to Institute Policy that Would Fine for bad recycling practices.

If residents or businesses don't separate the coffee grounds from the newspapers, they would face fines of up to $1,000 and eventually could have their garbage service stopped.

The plan to require proper sorting of refuse would be the nation's first mandatory recycling and composting law. It would direct garbage collectors to inspect the trash to make sure it is put into the right blue, black or green bin, according to a draft of the legislation prepared by the city's Department of the Environment.

"If we're truly going to be the city we promote ourselves to be, a world-class, 21st century city that advances its values and principles, we're going to have to try new things," Newsom said Thursday. "People are used to doing things a certain way. And when you change that, they say it can't be done. Well, we've proved them wrong."