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Making Use of Ocean Trash

12:39 am - June 16, 2008

Photo: Making Use of Ocean Trash

Nothing irks me more than plastic at the beach. Getting ready to dive head-first into a wave and getting knocked on the head by an empty orange juice or (even worse) water bottle can seriously kill my saltwater high. That's why I love the underlying genius behind this new Sand Play Set from Green Toys. The toys are made with recycled milk jugs--jugs that could have wound up in the ocean as errant litter from an uncovered garbage barge or washed from a storm drain and out to sea.

The play set is also a great tool for teaching kids the value of recycling. And where better to do that than at the ocean, which is getting inundated with our recyclable garbage? As much as 90 percent of marine trash is plastic, and the U.N. Environment Programme has estimated that every square mile of ocean contains 46,000 pieces of floating plastic. If you need proof, look at the ever-expanding Eastern Garbage Patch, an area in the northern Pacific Ocean twice the size of Texas that is so full of waste, scientists have stopped trying to shrink it; now, they're just struggling to find ways to keep more trash from piling on.

To pick up one of these sets, visit Green Toys to find a brick-and-mortar retailer near your or buy one on Amazon for $19.95.

© The Green Guide, 2008

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awesome
posted by dreamer53 on 2008-07-03 09:34:32  

That is so totally awesome!

Plastic Beaches
posted by brilang on 2008-07-08 15:34:10  

You should go somewhere remote and see what beaches look like. I recently visited the northwest tip of Vancouver Island (Cape Scott Provincial Park) and was really surprised to see the amount of plastic garbage strewn everywhere. There were plastic beverage containers, plastic floats, plastic water drums (55 Gallon?), plastic food wrappers, etc. Some were obviously from Asia, other from cruise ships or fishing boats/nets. And if you truly want to be horrified, read about the Great Pacific Garbate Patch (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacific_Garbage_Patch)

THE GARBAGE PATCH
posted by lawnmuller on 2008-07-11 08:16:20  

DOESN'T IT SEEM THAT THERE IS AN INCREDIBLE POTENTIAL ECONOMIC GOLDMINE IN THAT GARBAGE PATCH. I'M SURE THERE IS A COMPANY OUT THERE, THAT CAN DEVELOP A TRASH HARVESTER/SUPERTANKER THAT CAN 'MINE' THIS MESS?

Reuse the Refuse! About Time!
posted by RMoolick on 2008-07-28 17:49:53  

I am a strong proponent of recycling materials in a positive and ecofriendly way. My blog http://www.global-enviroblog.com deals with reducing our carbon footprint. I favor any push toward reducing the damage to our environment.

Great resource on overconsumption
posted by dd on 2008-07-29 15:42:20  

Check out ReusableBags.com for tons of great information on this issue...they have disturbing photos of the "plastic island" off the coast of California and good articles on the topic.

They also are having a big summer sale. Their products are some of the best for minimizing or eliminating the need for plastic bags of all kinds, bottles, etc. Awesome!

Ocean pollution recovery and prevention
posted by blumon on 2008-07-30 09:26:46  

There will soon be a surplus of fishing boats out there with no fish to catch - if there is a gold mine in recycleable plastic floating out there, then why not use these vessels to recover the plastic for recycling??!! It's easy to talk about what to do with this pollution but how to recover it and prevent it from getting there in the first place are the real questions. Prevention at the source could be achieved by the installation of trash 'sumps' at the point of source ( ie the storm drains along major rivers ). NYC has some of these sumps and they work well, but are high maintenance. They've made a huge difference in the NY harbor and Hudson River.

plastic bags
posted by go_natural_baby on 2008-07-30 18:17:21  

We just posted on our blog about plastic bags and reasons why one should "just say no" to them. We have a link to a slide show that gives a small glimpse into the destruction that plastic bags are doing to the earth,especially marine life.

beach toys
posted by veracan on 2008-08-08 17:32:32  

I think that's fantastic! We should do more of utilizing our plastic to create new products. Reduce, reuse, recycle.


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