And More Coverage
Incidentally, A Photo Editor posted a link to a photographer's site, Chris Jordon, with images of the tragic consequences of ocean dumping and our love for non-biodegradable plastics. According to the photographer's statement, none of the images were altered in any way. Birds choke and die as they mistake plastic for food.
Update on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch
A woman named Mary Crowley is making an effort to clean up the garbage that has accumulated in the Pacific Ocean by starting a non profit, Project Kaisei. See CNN article here.
P.S. Still have no heat in my building and now no hot water either. On the bright side, my roommate met our next door neighbor who's lived in the building for 7 years. She said this is the first time something like this has happened which gives me hope that it won't happen again, but also makes me wonder if I brought the bad luck to the building. She, like me and my roommate, is also going through the great "what career do I ultimately want?" internal debate. Amazing how that kind of stuff comes up in conversation upon an introductory meeting. I guess it's forefront on everyone's mind.
Garbage Island (Pacific Floating Garbage)
About a year ago, I posted a story and pictures of the Pacific Floating Garbage patch. It's amazing how little attention this atrocity has received by the media. I think either Yahoo.com or CNN picked it up in a tiny story a few months ago and everyone I spoke to about it was shocked - like they heard it for the first time. Qquestion no more. Here's an informative video via VBS.tv (thanks Julia) where a TV crew spends 3 weeks on the open sea observing and documenting the tiny particles of plastic that are prevalent throughout the ocean. It's extremely disheartening to see how our wasteful ways cause so much lasting pain to the eco-system. How many plastic bags or containers does one need? If your corner deli didn't put your sandwich in a plastic bag, would you really miss it or even care? NO! Plastic is incredibly convenient but whatever our circumstances, humans can adjust. If you don't have time to see all 3 videos, at least see the last one. The next time your friend mentions hearing about some mysterious floating garbage patch the size of Texas, you can explain to them that yes it does in fact, exist. And no one seems to be doing anything about it.
Great Pacific Garbage Patch. etc.
Glad that CNN is finally covering the issue of floating garbage in the ocean. See article here. They don't know much about the garbage and how it's effecting the ecosystem. They say most of it is tiny bits of plastic that gets ingested by birds and ultimately kills the birds or finds its way into their food.
By the way, am so happy that the Current.tv journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, were freed by the Korean government. Definitely makes Bill Clinton out as the hero, saving the damsels in distress. I'm curious to hear more about what they went through- if they're even allowed to share their ordeal at this point. See CNN's article here. It makes me feel good that Bill Clinton and Al Gore are still involved in our politics to some extent even though Bill sort of bailed out Gore's employees.