HOW?+Plastic+Vortex!+Amelia,+Rye,+And+Esther

**The Plastic Vortex (The Garbage Patch)-- Paradise for the Homeless**

A mountain of trash, the size double the state of Texas, continues to expand in the Pacific Ocean. An American oceanographer named Charles Moores first discovered the “Plastic Vortex” in 1997. There are several garbage patches around the world, yet, two of the biggest are at west and the east of the Pacific Ocean. The area is comprised of plastic, which is made of petroleum, and other forms of trash harming our environment in the long term.

 Although plastic doesn't decompose, it still breaks down into tiny pieces of plastic minerals. Small cellular marine animals, and sea birds ingest these broken down plastics. The creatures can not digest the materials they take, and eventually, the plastics fill up their stomach. The mountain of garbage goes up to about 30 meters, both polluting and in-navigating the ocean. Lastly, when the plastic breaks down, it releases a large amount of toxic substances such as DDT, n insecticide that is also toxic to animals and humans, and PCBs, heavily polluting and toxic chemical compound for insulation and hydraulic fluids, that was originally contained in the plastics. 

 How can we fix this dilemma or prevent it from worsening? 1. Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. Reduce means using fewer resources, or just to cut back.

 2. Enforce: Government agencies need to enforce fines on littering and dumping to prevent trash from entering directly into our environment. Since the patch is located in  international waters, governments are not compelled to claim responsibility for the cleanup.

3. Bag the Bag: Over 500 billion plastic bags are used worldwide. The United Statesfasdfasd needs join the growing list of countries and cities, including Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Boston, Somalia, Rwanda, China, Bhutan, San Francisco, and many more, to ban plastic bags. The question of “Paper or plastic?” should be answered with “Neither.” Reusable bags are the part of the solution.

4. Tax: A tax should be pressed on all unnecessary items made of plastic, such as plastic water, bottles, and bags. The money coming from from the tax would go towards cleaning up and the maintenance of the earth's oceans and environment. Plastic is a nonrenewable product, so, the plastic pieces that are large enough to collect, should be gathered and turned into a useful product. The plastic can be processed into different materials, for example it can be used as sustainable building material. Ships can collect the plastic pieces and process them directly while transporting to a final destination. dasfadsfasdfsadf Works Cited Mazzocchi, Maria "Out of Sight, Out of Mind: THE PLASTIC VORTEX."

"The Great Pacific Garbage Patch - The Worlds Largest Garbage Dump." Hubpages.com <[]>. = =