Beeblebox's Vortex of Ass

Dear Little Plastic Wrappers,

Let's play a little game. Its called 20 Questions. Ready? Go!

1) I float in the ocean.

2) I'm twice the size of Texas.

3) I'm 80% plastic.

4) I weigh 3.5 million tons (which is 7 000 000 000 pounds).

5) When I reach land I throw up on the beaches spewing garbage absolutely everywhere.

Nothing? Here's a hint it starts with 'I' and ends with '-sland of garbage floating around in the Pacific Ocean'.

Apparently this Great Pacific Garbage Patch has been in the works since the 1950s and is formed in an area known as the North Pacific sub-tropical gyre. In this particular stretch of ocean the water circulates in such a manner that currents force floating materials (i.e. trash) to the centre of the gyre, thereby allowing a mammoth build up of the recyclables. According to the Greenpeace website, there is an estimate six kilos of plastic to every one kilo of natural plankton. For the folks a little inept at math, plastic outnumbers plankton by SIX TIMES.

Because plastic doesn't tend to decompose, the debris remains floating in islands for decades before finally migrating down and making a new home in the bottom of the ocean. The majority of the waste is swept off land by wind or rain and is carried out to sea via rivers, fjords etc. (not really fjords, but I like that word and it seemed fitting). The remaining 20% comes from gigantic barges which either dispose of their unwanted goods to "illegally avoid the cost of proper disposal in port" or accidentally lose containers overboard in the stormy seas. Such incidents can add 29 000 rubber duckies, 34 000 hockey gloves and 33 000 basketball shoes to the sea in one go (LA Times).

Lastly, according to a study done by the U.N. there are about 46 000 pieces of plastic floating in the world's tub for every 1 square mile of water. That's a lot of plastic, and not so much water. Think about it. No...YOU think about it!