Let’s talk about something near and dear to our hearts…the ocean gyres. Just in case you haven’t heard of a gyre let me explain.
A gyre is a swirling ocean vortex caused by winds and ocean currents, causing things that float to accumulate in these vortex areas. The North pacific gyre is about the size of Texas.
Gyres accumulate trash, where with help from the sun, it is turned into a plastic particle soup. Think of it as a bowl of soup the size of Texas.
Most of the plastics we use float. Floating on the surface they are bombarded by the suns rays, eventually breaking down into smaller and smaller pieces. Even as small pieces they continue to float and are often mistaken as food by small fish and other sea creatures. Small fish are part of the food chain they are eaten by large fish and many of those are eaten by humans. Plastic can be passed on to us when we eat fish that have made plastic part of their diet.
An interesting fact about plastics is that not all of them float. For example, PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) the plastic used for water and soft drink bottles doesn’t float. It will float if air is trapped in the bottle, but like other plastics floating on the surface, it will be broken down by the sun. Once the PET container no longer holds air it will sink to the bottom. The caps on most plastic bottles aren’t made of PET plastic they don’t sink. Plastic caps will break down into smaller pieces and become part of the goo building up in our ocean gyres.
It’s important that we find a way to clean up our oceans and keep plastic from entering our waters. We need to develop plastics that biodegrade in our oceans and streams. We need plastics that should they get in our oceans, sink to the bottom, and not leave harmful by products.
Max –Ensobottles.com
Posts
Did you know that Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) plastic does not float? PET is used to make the bottles you use everyday for; soda, water, juice, etc., and beverage containers are just the tip of the iceberg. Almost everything we drink from is made from PET plastic, and it doesn’t float. What does this mean? If you Google “Pacific Ocean Gyre” and look at some of the documentary from various informational programs, you will see the staggering issue we have created in our oceans. The really bad news is that the stuff they are reporting on is a different kind of plastic that is used for the lids and caps of these beverage drinks, as well as more industrial applications, and is the stuff that floats. So basically we are aware of the problem on the surface literally. Greenpeace reports that 70% of our plastic that ends up in the ocean is found at the bottom of our ocean. We have no idea what the effect will be on our deep ocean ecosystem. We know that when fish and other marine life mistake the plastic for food, they are being injured and dying as a direct result of plastic pollution. Plastic has become an integral part of our lives and is probably going to stay around. We need to develop plastics that are more earth friendly, that won’t harm our oceans or future generations. That’s why we developed the world’s first truly biodegradable bottle. If ENSO bottles ended up in the ocean, it will become food for microbes found in the ocean and biodegrade into biogases and humus. Our goal is to have plastic that doesn’t become part of our food chain. If all plastics were biodegradable then plastics that end up in oceans would be removed by microbial activity which is found in abundance in the oceans. We all need to do more if we want to make a difference. We need to change the way we humans look at our environment, we need to recycle more, and purchase responsibly. There is a growing interest in becoming better stewards of our planet. I believe we will come together to help, not hurt our environment. It’s for all of our future well being, besides, who wants to order a plastic sandwich instead of a fish sandwich?
ReplyDelete