The dump in the Pacific

CNN has an article today about the plastic problem in the Pacific. If you haven't heard about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, you might want to have a look-see.

Very basically, all the trash out in the Pacific gets swept out to this vortex where the currents collide. Turns out there's a lot of trash. Some scientists estimate that this patch is approximately the size of Texas. Probably, if I were Texas, I'd be getting garbage-patch envy from all this comparison.

But you're not going to go out there and find a huge raft of plastic bottles. You'll see ocean. You'll see the occasional piece of solid trash. The devil is in the details; when scientists scoop up the ocean water, they find tiny pieces of plastic. Everywhere.

Of course, there are other pieces of debris out there, like fishing nets, which tangle up wildlife and cause considerable damage. The plastic is a problem because of the tiny creatures at the bottom of the food chain. They don't exactly have the brainpower to decide that plastic is not good to eat. Even seabirds have been found dead with their bellies full of plastic. Unlike you and me, some species in the world just eat whatever looks good. They don't spend exorbitant amounts of time deciding what to eat that day, or scrutinizing the expiration date on the milk.

This will become a problem, obviously, because everything feeds everything else. Apart from the fact that we are overfishing like crazy, depleting the middle of the food chain, now we're hurting the bottom of the food chain. Um... I know we're proud of being at the top of the food chain and all, but one link maketh not a chain.

On the island in Alaska (oh no, here I go with 'on the island...'), we had a stretch of beach, which came in handy when we loaded and unloaded two months' worth of supplies. Every high tide would leave a different assortment of trash mixed in with the strands of bull kelp. Plastic lids. Soap bottles. Tupperware. It's a wildlife refuge, dangit, not a trash heap!

But I know, when one goes to the beach, or downtown, or to the highway, one just looks past all the trash. Trash is not going anywhere. Trash will live forever. Our trash will outlive us. I just don't think trash should be allowed to do that. I'm already shorter than my younger sister. I don't want to decompose before my trash does.

My approach to the situation is to try to avoid generating trash in the first place. I'm doing pretty well, if I may say so myself.

• I avoid takeout and/or fast food (weird waxy cups, plastic lids, styrofoam/plastic containers, wrappers)
• I avoid buying products packaged in non-recyclable containers (plastic, food wrappers)
• I carry my water bottle everywhere (plastic one-use bottles)
• I buy Tom's of Maine, which makes toothpaste in aluminum tubes (though I may try to create my own paste soon)
• I only use bar soap (generally, packaging can be recycled, and sometimes you can even find locally-made soap. Failing that, Dr. Bronners FTW)
• I don't wash my hair (... I haven't washed my hair in over a month, but I managed to keep it a secret 'till now. I rinse daily or every other day, and to be honest, my hair feels quite healthy.)
• I don't shave (mostly on principle that I have better things to do with my time than be in the bathroom, partially because what the heck is in that shaving cream, anyway?)
• I wear my glasses instead of my contacts (no more saline solution bottles, no more fretting about putting them in and taking them out)
• I use re-usable feminine products
• I buy from the farmer's market, bulk foods from the co-op, bring my own bags, and re-use plastic bags I already have (this saves a TON of trash)
• I don't buy crap I don't really need, and repurpose as much trash as I can
• Of course, I recycle, but this is not something I want to rely on. The true benefits of recycling are widely debated. Certainly, it's better than putting anything in a landfill, but even better than recycling is reducing one's overall waste output.

My current struggle is teeth. Toothpaste, I may begin to make on my own. I've begun flossing again, but I haven't decided what is the most eco-friendly way to go about it. Ideally, I want something that will decompose in a composter, but I also want something that doesn't need a huge amount of energy to produce. If anyone's got any thoughts on this, please hit me up. Also, toothbrushes. They're meant to be disposed of, unfortunately. I've seen toothbrushes with replacement heads, but will they clean my teeth?

I didn't start all of these things at once. I did them one at a time. This is really more of a process than a total lifestyle makeover. Start small. Pick something easy. Later on, pick something else. That's all there is to it. I know that I have gone into areas that other folks frown at (the hair thing, the shaving thing, I know, I know), but the important bit is to decide what is right for you, personally, in your own life. That's all.