Every year, trash ends up in our oceans. This trash accumulates in different areas, creating garbage patches in the ocean.
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP)
Each year millions of tonnes of plastics and trash end up in the ocean.
These pieces of trash travel as currents, winds, and waves transport them. This trash often meets up in multiple main areas of the ocean where patches of plastics have accumulated.
One of these patches is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP). The GPGP is located between California and Hawaii and is the largest accumulation of ocean plastic in the world. It is estimated to be 1.6 square kilometers, which is twice the size of Texas.
These plastics are eaten by ocean wildlife as is or eventually break down into microplastics and are eaten by other creatures, mistaking them for food. Microplastics are worse than larger pieces of plastic, since they are harder to clean up and can eventually pass toxic chemicals through to other animals and humans.
Replacing plastics with biodegradable materials are key to helping our environment.
The GPGP covers an estimated 1.6 square kilometers, twice the size of Texas.
When sampled, there were more than 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic in the GPGP. This is equivalent to 250 pieces for every human in the world.
84% of this plastic was found to have at least one Persistent Bioaccumulative Toxic Chemical.