You’ve likely heard of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch but did you know that it was 1.6 million square kilometers and is actually one of five floating garbage patches? This is the only one that gets a lot of air time but the problem is larger than many people realize.
We know that the garbage patch is mostly plastic. Pollution makes its way into the ocean and from there floats until it reaches one of the patches, carried by the currents. When it arrives it mostly stays there until it breaks down unto mircoplastics and from there makes its way into the food chain. Super gross.
One man is planning to swim to the middle of it and samples will be collected that will tell us what happens to the garbage when it’s out there. Of course, for those on the ground, it might better to focus our efforts on keeping our garbage out of the ocean.