It's Ocean Conservancy International Coastal Cleanup Day on Saturday 16 Sept. It got me thinking about the massive issue facing our oceans cos they having to act as a big garbage dump for all the plastic rubbish that blows or is dumped into them. Now let's put you in the picture straight up front - plastic, despite being something none of us think we can do without, it really really sucks for the environment. This sh*te DOES NOT degrade peeps - this means for like a 1000 years it's just flipping floating about out there - choking marine life and washing up on pristine islands. Major fail.
As in kak your great-great grandfather chucked out will still be floating out there in your grandkids grandkids grandkids life-times....
There're these things they call garbage gyres, which is just a fancy name for a moerse klomp plastic kak that is floating in certain area's of the ocean. There's about 5 of these monster plastic dumping grounds in our oceans. Basically our oceans are made up of complex networks of currents that circulate water around the world. Coupled with wind and the earth’s rotation, they create “gyres”, massive, slow rotating whirlpools in which plastic trash can accumulate.The North Pacific Gyre, the most heavily researched for plastic pollution, spans an area roughly twice the size of the United States. Seri-aas.
The big ocean dumping grounds
Here's the problem - plastic (which is made from petroleum) is designed to last forever. So most of the stuff we buy - whether it's to eat, drink or use, comes in petroleum-based packaging. So here we have a material designed to last forever, and we're just throwing it away. Spot the problem! The short-term convenience of using and throwing away plastic products carries a very inconvenient long-term truth. These plastic water bottles, cups, utensils, electronics, toys, and gadgets we gooi out daily are rarely recycled. Yah, start feeling lank guilty right about now.....
So you just chuck it like a muppet - where does it go? Some of it ends up in landfill, probably around 50%, only about 5% is recycled, and the rest? Well, the other 45% that's "unaccounted" for is lost into the environment where ultimately it ends up washing out into the sea......where it strangles turtles, chokes dolphins and drowns birds. Nice one ou's. You reckon maybe you should think about recycling now?
Recycled plastic can be made into all sorts on new stuff. Take for instance our boardwalk from Clubhouse to Rincon - it's made out of recycled plastic....all 388 tons of the stuff. That's around 16 321 200 empty 2L bottles - sure beats em ending up in the line-up. The benches along the beach are also all made out of recycled plastic - and took about 3155 empty 2L bottles per bench.
So start thinking about all the plastic you're using guys - short term convenience, long term consequences. Get in touch with your greenie bunny hugger inner being, and start recycling - it's really easy to do. Email the peeps at Greencycle to come collect your recycling once a week it's lank cheap.
Check out Rise Above Plastic - the Surfrider Foundations anti-plastic project. Make an effort - take your own cloth bag to the shops, don't take the plastic one's. All the major surf brands offer cool clothing made from recycled material, so you can go a bit greener with your surfing too. Just make the effort, it's easier than you think.
Made out of a helluva lot of recycled 2L drinks bottles! Image Jonker Fourie.