The Monster Plastic Garbage Island!

It might sound like a cheap horror movie—but it's real. A huge, dangerous, growing island of trash!

In the North Pacific Ocean there is an island of floating trash roughly the size of Texas. It has been called the Eastern Garbage Patch or the Pacific Trash Vortex. Some believe this trash came from both land sources and ships. This huge mass of floating garbage was formed over many years as the currents and winds of the ocean gathered the materials and pushed them into one area—similar to pollen floating to the center of a pond or pool. The mass consists mostly of plastic—a material that can take over 1,000 years to dissolve! Scientists worry that this formation might affect tides, wildlife, and water temperatures, and even become a threat to ships in the area!

Would you like to respond to this posting? If so, please offer a reply to one of the topics below:

1. Who do you think should be responsible for cleaning up the Pacific Trash Vortex?

2. As a sociologist, what steps do you think should be taken by our global society to prevent this problem from enlarging or re-occurring?