It is unimaginable to try and picture a gigantic garbage dump swirling in the Pacific Ocean that stretches from Hawaii to Japan. Still increasing in size, it is currently estimated to cover an area twice the size of the continental United States. This enormous amount of debris has been nicknamed The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, or trash vortex, and is the world’s largest rubbish dump. It is held in place by swirling underwater currents.

I became interested on the topic when I came across a headline discussing the matter. Huge quantities of trash were washing up on shores, sparking media attention. I was fascinated because I had never heard of the garbage patch, nor could I believe the size of this toxic monster. As I researched more, I was concerned about the hazardous effects troubling marine life, as well as humans.

Los Angeles River, photo taken after a recent storm

About one fifth of the plastic junk is thrown off of ships or oil platforms, and the rest comes from land. To form a clearer vision of just how large this dump is, we can look to Sailor Moore. He sailed through the area for a consistent week and saw mounds of floating garbage every time he looked out into the water.

An effort needs to be made by consumers to rid ourselves from living in a litter infested world. Unless consumers cut back on their use of disposable plastics, the plastic stew would double in size over the next decade. As well, the fate and impact on marine ecosystems must be analyzed. More than a million sea birds ever year, as well as more than 100,000 marine animals have fallen victim to the garage patch.

Before the days of plastic, when fishermen dumped their trash overboard or lost a net, it consisted of natural materials like metal, cloth or paper that would either sink to the bottom or biodegrade quickly. But plastic remains floating on the surface, the same place where many genuine food sources lie, and can remain so for 400 years. Plastic is durable and strong; precisely the qualities that make it so dangerous if it reaches the ocean. Ships were dumping massive amounts of garbage into the ocean, and littering people were letting their trash wash into drains and the garbage would eventually make its way out into the ocean.

In 1987, a law was finally passed restricting the dumping of plastics into the ocean. The Marine Plastic Pollution Research and Control Act (MARPOL) went into effect on December 31, 1988, making it illegal for any U.S. vessel or land-based operation to dispose of plastics at sea. It prohibits the dumping of plastics anywhere in the ocean, and the dumping of other materials, such as paper, glass, metal, and crockery, closer to shore.

Some researchers say it is a clean up battle that could never be won. The large amount of plastic in the Pacific may always remain, but we can do our part and prevent the statistics from consistently increasing.