I have written ad nauseum on the topic of plastic for the digest. Why am I so down on plastic? The following article, which I am sharing here, gives a better picture of what is happening to a large portion of the plastic from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
This heap of floating plastic grunge covers a huge area of open ocean yet smaller debris finds it way to land. The land that it has found is located at the farthest southern tip of the United States on Big Island, Hawai’i. Kamilo Beach is one of the few white sand beaches on Big Island. It provides resting and mating grounds for sea turtles and the endangered Hawaiian Monk Seal.
This plastic heap continues to be an on going issue that requires constant vigilant cleanup of its debris by residents of Hawai’i. There are dozens of articles and even more photos of the beach . . . just Google Images of Kamilo Beach for your own eyes.
The biggest problem, this is not plastic coming from only Hawaiian Islands but from many areas that touch the Pacific Ocean. The Federal Government has ordered the state to protect Kamilo Beach . . . but how? The cost alone in a small state can be staggering. It is a serious problem that is not just local — it is global. Only we can fix it by changing our behavior. Four final words words from me — Stop buying Plastic, Please.
The following article is from the Center For Biological Diversity dated 16 July 2020.
Excerpt:
Plastic pollution poses a serious threat to Hawaii’s water quality and vulnerable marine ecosystems. Microplastics, or plastics that have broken into tiny pieces, are emerging as a major threat to marine wildlife and water quality. Microplastics can absorb environmental toxins and get eaten by fish and other marine life and eventually be consumed by humans.
Here is the full post from 16 July 2020: Center for Biological Diversity https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/epa-waters-around-two-hawaii-beaches-impaired-plastic-pollution-2020-07-16/
