Trash island12/9/2023 ![]() Nikolai Maximenko of the University of Hawaii in Honolulu developed a computer model to describe how plastics are accumulated from converging surface currents to form garbage patches. Nearly 7,000 students from the SEA semester program conducted 6,136 surface plankton net tows on board SEA's sailing research vessels over 22 years, yielding more than 64,000 plastic pieces, mostly fragments less than 10mm in size with nearly all lighter than 0.05g. ResearchĪ joint study by the Sea Education Association, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and the University of Hawaii at Manoa collected plastic samples in the western North Atlantic and Caribbean Sea from 1986 to 2008. However, these denser plastics are not observed in the North Atlantic garbage patch because the methods to collect samples only capture the surface microplastics. Denser material that is thought to exist under the surface of the ocean includes plastic called polyethylene terephthalate that is used to make soft drink and water bottles. The surface of the garbage patch consists of microplastics such as polyethylene and polypropylene which make up common household items. Once the trash has made it into the ocean, it is centralized by gyres, which collect trash in large masses. The North Atlantic garbage patch originates from human-created waste that travels from continental rivers into the ocean. It is likely that when the microplastics are taken into account, the patch could be as large as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. ![]() Because of this, it is thought that the size of the North Atlantic Garbage Patch could be an underestimate. This may be caused by the plastics sinking beneath the surface or breaking down into smaller pieces that can pass through the net. The concentration of plastic in the North Atlantic garbage patch has stayed mostly constant even though global plastic production has increased five-fold over the course of the 22-year study. The patch is estimated to be hundreds of kilometers across in size, with a density of more than 200,000 pieces of debris per square kilometer (one piece per five square metres, on average). The debris zone shifts by as much as 1,600 km (990 mi) north and south seasonally, and drifts even farther south during the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, according to the NOAA. The patch is located from 22°N to 38°N and its western and eastern boundaries are unclear. There have only been a few awareness and clean-up efforts for the North Atlantic garbage patch, such as The Garbage Patch State at UNESCO and The Ocean Cleanup, as most of the research and cleanup efforts have been focused on the Great Pacific garbage patch, a similar garbage patch in the north Pacific. The garbage patch is a large risk to wildlife (and to humans) through plastic consumption and entanglement. The garbage originates from human-created waste traveling from rivers into the ocean and mainly consists of microplastics. A 22-year research study conducted by the Sea Education Association estimates the patch to be hundreds of kilometers across, with a density of more than 200,000 pieces of debris per square kilometer. The North Atlantic garbage patch is a garbage patch of man-made marine debris found floating within the North Atlantic Gyre, originally documented in 1972. The North Atlantic Gyre is one of five major ocean gyres. Learn how we work with our neighbors and partners on Governors Island to eliminate and replace all plastic and non-compostable serviceware to compostables (a major score for Zero Waste Island!), and how you too can set up a similar co-op in our Compostable Serviceware Buyers’ Co-op Guide, a free PDF download.Large floating field of debris in the North Atlantic Ocean In 2020, with the support and funding provided by NYSP2I (the Pollution Prevention Institute of New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Environmental Protection Fund), Earth Matter added an additional resource for the ZWI initiative and Island community by creating and operating the Compostable Serviceware Supply. In addition to processing all organics collected on the island, Earth Matter provides training for The Trust for Governors Island and educational resources for all island partners and Compost Learning Center visitors. One big step in reducing the amount of waste needing to be carted off the island has been to make more of it compostable so that it can be efficiently processed by Earth Matter, right on the island. All vendors and tenants operating on the island are required to use only compostable serviceware, reduce their waste as much as possible, and source from sustainable resources.
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