The Trash Vortex

A lot of our waste is disposed of in the sewers which eventually lead to the Ocean. This waste is not entirely organic and even though it shouldn't be, a lot of it is non-biodegradable. Now from there where does it all go right? Well unfortunately just because it's out of sight doesn't mean it's not there anymore. It's just gone to another place, a place called...*pause for dramatic effect*...The Trash Vortex!

So for the hopefuls no, this is not an intergalactic hole in the ocean that leads to a space vortex that destroys waste forever... yeah I know I was disappointed too. It's basically a sort of whirlpool situated in the North pacific ocean, created by the world's 5 main currents. All the trash thrown off our coasts follows these currents and ends up in the swirl thus creating a big mass of floating trash referred to as a garbage patch. It has many names but I think "The Trash Vortex" sounds pretty cool. Here is a very nice image I found which sums it up very nicely.

 

we should be very worried about this not only because this massive thing takes up 10 % of the pacific ocean, but also because since the plastic is broken down by the sun but never actually destroyed this is made up of tiny little pieces of plastic which are eaten by the smaller fishes, then the bigger fishes eat them and so on until we eat the biggest fishes which will have absorbed all the harmful chemicals found in plastic! Quite scary! And the Trash Vortex is not alone, there are many more floating garbage continents out there.

I found a group that supports this cause, the project Kasai, they've found an interesting way of getting donations. They are filling the tank of this fish called Kai with plastic and when people make donations they take out a bit of the plastic, Kai represents all the fish out there with their home polluted by our waste! 

 

Let's help save Kai!

Trash in Paradise

 Mauritius is a gorgeous little place, turquoise lagoons rimmed by fine pristine sand and emerald green palm trees, but we really have to put emphasis on "little".

With only 2,040 km² and as many as 1.2 million residents space becomes sparse! Let's not forget the hundreds of thousands of tourist that come every year and the great increase in construction at the moment. It is averaged that every Mauritian produces about one kg of waste per day, which means that there is a total of 1.2 million kgs of waste being produced in Mauritius per day!

Now where do you think all of that goes? Does it just vanish into thin air? Nope it's just swept under the rug! All of it is dumped into open air dumps, unsightly, unhealthy and smelly. But at least it's on the other side of the postcard, out of sight.

The point I wanted to make is that there is no way Mauritius can afford to keep on going on this way because eventually landfills are filled! This is why recycling should be so important here, there is really no other option. This is the only road to a sustainable island!

I hope this explains well the reason why I'm doing this and that I've given you all something to think about!

I'll talk to you all next time! =]

Greetings!

Welcome to my blog! A space I've created to be able to share with you my ideas and record my progress in the recycling project I've undertaken as part of my IB course. I plan to make weekly updates giving you information on recycling and providing you with advice on how you too can take action. This is my first experience with blogging, I hope that it will be a fun experience doing this and that I'll be able to make it enjoyable for everyone, fingers crossed!

Oh and I'm open to any ideas or constructive criticism and I want to know about your blogs too! So go ahead and express yourself in the comments!

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