Garbage Around The World

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) is a collection of waste and debris that has accumulated in the Pacific Ocean. Currently, the GPGP is conservatively estimated to contain 1.8 trillion pieces of floating debris (this doesn't include trash that sits below the surface!), including 87,000 tons of plastic, and spans nearly 618,000 square miles. Put more simply, it means that it is twice the size of Texas and is still growing. Yikes! Whenever trash is discarded into the ocean, the circular patterns of the ocean's currents cause the debris to collect and form large areas of contamination, further expanding the GPGP.

Every year, tourists flock to the Dominican Republic to personally experience the beautiful beaches, flavorful island cuisine, and the sound of vibrant instruments that fill the air. However, in 2018, global news outlets revealed shocking and disheartening images of the surrounding massively polluted ocean with waves of trash and toxic sludge that were flowing along the shores. While this was news to many, locals explained that this phenomenon occurs regularly during periods of heavy rainfall as a result of businesses and residents dumping trash into waterways. Unfortunately, these images don’t fully illustrate the magnitude of the issue because only a "small percentage" of the trash makes it back to shore, while most washes out to the open ocean, ultimately contributing to one of many churning garbage patches.

Quite honestly, Mount Everest was the furthest thought on my mind on where I'd expect there to be serious trash issues. I learned that each year, approximately 40,000 people spend up to $100,000 each to attempt climbing Mount Everest and many of them leave behind mounds of trash. In fact, so much waste has been left behind over the years by climbers, that the Indian Army was recently mobilized to help clean it up. Sadly, the combination of human waste and trash has been so bad that it has begun contaminating the local water supply. Consequently, to help slow the degradation of this natural wonder, China has closed its Mount Everest base camp to tourists. Who would have thought?!

In March 2019, a 1,100 pound, 15-foot long curvier beaked whale washed ashore in the Philippines. The cause of death: starvation and dehydration due to the inability to digest the 88 pounds of trash it had swallowed. There is so much vibrant life in the ocean and we rely on it heavily for the rich and abundant resources it has. However, the impacts of the large amount of waste that we leave behind are crippling. The whale consumed plastic bags, fishing nets, containers, among other things and ultimately perished. This creature is just one of many, between land and sea, that have suffered this fate.

Every year, the world produces 1.3 billion tons of solid waste and of that figure, the United States is responsible for 228 million tons. We have less than 5% of the planet's population, yet we produce nearly 18% of the trash; not too far behind are China, Brazil, Japan, and Germany. We live in a consumer-driven society fueled by our constant demands and purchases, all of which help make the world go round economically, but on the flip side, the planet is suffering from the impacts. The more we buy, the more we throw away, adding to the landfills, litter problems, and marine contamination. Because we have the first world luxury of having our trash hauled away to oblivion, we oftentimes overlook this global impact. And let's not forget that food waste is a key contributor to our trash problem as well. I have to admit, of the many things that the USA is #1 in, I'm sad to see that we won in this category too.

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