Plastic

A few weeks ago, my fellow blogger friend started posting about a 7 Day Plastic Challenge by GreenPlate. The challenge starts with simple things you can avoid each day that will help bring awareness to you on how much plastic you use. When my blogger friend wrote about her 7 days I found it interesting and thought about checking it out. But then, I totally forgot about it until last night.

Last night I stayed up watching a documentary on the Pacific Gyre from VBS.TV. You can check out the video here(please note there is a lot of profanity in the video). VBS and GreenPlate explain that the Pacific Gyre as an area twice the size of Texas, where the plastic to plankton ratio was measured as more than 6:1 in 2001. In 2008, the ratio had increased to 28:1. GreenPlate also says that, "We now know that 90% of marine trash is made of plastic - and 80% comes from land and local watersheds."

This is a picture of a tangled web of plastic nets and ropes that the VBS team found in the Gyre. (Picture found from here.)



Watching this video and looking at GreenPlate's website really opened my eyes to the horror that is plastic. Seeing all the things that the VBS crew found in the middle of the ocean really disturbed me. We all use SO much plastic. Even today I have used several "disposable" plastic items - none of which can be recycled.

So with all that in mind, tomorrow I am going to start the 7 Day Plastic Challenge. The first step is easy - no straws. We will see how easy it is after tomorrow...I will keep you updated!