The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is really, truly unconscionable.
It blows my mind that nearly every single article I’ve come across in my research states that “There’s nothing we can do about it now…” (Eriksen, October 19, 2007). What kind of asinine, uncaring and lazy response is this?
In case you haven’t yet heard of this man-made atrocity, there is a collection of human waste (mostly plastic trash), that has piled up into a floating island (some say two islands), twice the size of Texas, about 1,000 miles west of San Francisco. What’s even more astounding to me anyway, is that this has been known to exist for the better part of half a century now (though it was until the last few decades that it’s neared its current size).
An article from the San Francisco Chronicle states:
“Ocean current patterns may keep the flotsam stashed in a part of the world few will ever see, but the majority of its content is generated onshore, according to a report from Greenpeace last year titled “Plastic Debris in the World’s Oceans.”
This is just totally unacceptable.
Having just learned of this recently and then really took a hard look at it today, I can no longer, in good conscience, continue to write off this horrendous creation and let it continue unabated. To that end, I have just registered a domain which I hope to evolve into the official, leading source of information, activism and action against this atrocity. In the coming months, I hope to raise funds to start dismantling this floating island of trash, generate significant publicity, donate hundreds if not thousands of hours and dollars, both of my own and others, to turn the tides on this.
The GreatPacificGarbagePatch.com will serve as my central focus on what I hope grows into a massive wide effort to eradicate this abysmal by-product of our global industries. I hope that you will join me in my efforts, in whatever way you can.
Stay tuned for more info on this including a website, blog, donation system, and much more.
We just wrapped a second day of green consulting for Mario Van Peebles and his family, along with the help of Ed Begley, Jr. From left-to-right: Shena, Elizabeth, Mario, Me, Ed, Brent, and Ryan:
We were hired by Hour One productions to come in and consult for Mario and his family for a green home makeover and today we got to get down with him, his family, Ed and his daughter and really have some fun with each other while showing them some quick and easy (along with a few major technical points concerning electric use and meter reading, which the kids just loved!), steps to go green as a family.
Brent, Elizabeth, Ryan, Shena, and I rolled out in her biodiesel Jeep Liberty from our base of operations at the Sugar Shack (an intentional urban community house going green too), arriving on site at 1pm sharp. Our team met the complete production team and Van Peebles family, then completed our assessment of the house, prior to shooting everyone’s first scenes.
The day went by very quickly as everyone had a lot of fun. Elizabeth and Shena shot some scenes with the boys, girls and Mario’s wife, while Brent and Ryan went through the electronics with the boys in their room, followed by a fun meter-reading session with them outside.
Then it was off to shoot our arrival scene with Ed, walking up the street with him and his daughter and our team. This was followed by our initial arrival into the house and meeting with Mario, then quickly dispersing off into our respective area’s of expertise throughout the house.
We shot some other various bits and pieces and were able to get nearly every one completed before the latest round of rough, west coast weather hit again.
And that was that: At a wee bit past 5pm, we packed up our gear, said our goodbyes and returned back to HQ for a homemade team dinner (along with our household’s weekly meeting). It was a great day of fun and learning for everyone involved and we look forward to the show airing on HDTV.
We’ll keep you posted on this as more details come our way, along with some promo clips, once the show launches.
Best of luck to Mario and family as they continue the greening of their beautiful home!
Why is it that so many people can just thoughtlessly discard their trash into the public: street, parking log, whatever, or in nature for that matter?
On my way across town this morning in Los Angeles, CA, the driver ahead of me tossed a crumpled up paper or napkin over his hood and out into the street, right in front of the cop; no one gave it a second thought. What’s the matter with these people? Seriously.
We need an Eco-Cop force to police this kind of blatant disregard for others and their, our environment.
