Remember the 3 R's... Reduce, Reuse, Recycle? Well here is an excellent website and blog that will get you thinking about those R's again. 5 Gyres website 5 Gyres blog
Check out this video
A gyrein oceanography is any large system of rotating ocean currents, particularly those involved with large wind movements. Gyres are caused by the Coriolis Effect; planetaryvorticity along with horizontal and vertical friction, which determine the circulation patterns from the wind curl (torque).[1] The term gyre can be used to refer to any type ofvortex in the air or the sea, even one that is man-made, but it is most commonly used in oceanography, to refer to the major ocean systems.
The world's 5 Major Gyres are shown above.
The problem...Our problem:
The North Pacific sub-tropical gyre covers an area of the Pacific in which the water circulates clockwise in a slow spiral. Winds are light. The currents tend to force any floating material into the low energy central area of the gyre. There are few islands on which the floating material can beach. So it stays there in the gyre, in astounding quantities estimated at six kilos of plastic for every kilo of naturally occurring plankton. The equivalent of an area the size of Texas swirling slowly around like a clock. This gyre has also been dubbed “the Asian Trash Trail” the “Trash Vortex” or the “Eastern Garbage Patch”.Greenpeace
Reduce
(Use less plastic):
Use fabric shopping bags.
Remember to put those shopping bags in your car (took me some getting used to!).
Look for sauces, drinks etc, in glass bottles rather than plastic when at the supermarket.
Buy/make toys made from natural fibres, your children will love them! (I love searching the stores for eco-friendly toys, a bit of a challenge!)
Recycle!
Reuse!
What ideas do you have to reduce our reliance on plastic?
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