
Indian Ocean garbage patch - sushirain
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Ocean_garbage_patch
======
sushirain
An explanation about environmental impact
([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacific_garbage_patch#Pho...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacific_garbage_patch#Photodegradation_of_plastics)):

> Unlike organic debris, which biodegrades, the photodegraded plastic
> disintegrates into ever smaller pieces while remaining a polymer. This
> process continues down to the molecular level.[26] As the plastic flotsam
> photodegrades into smaller and smaller pieces, it concentrates in the upper
> water column. As it disintegrates, the plastic ultimately becomes small
> enough to be ingested by aquatic organisms that reside near the ocean's
> surface. In this way, plastic may become concentrated in neuston, thereby
> entering the food chain.

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Jetrel
Having read Larry Niven's Ringworld, I'm brought to think of an eerie
possibility this might create; that is - what if this currently non-
biodegradable material _becomes_ biodegradable? What if the colossal supply of
this material (which as a hydrocarbon, had bound-potential-energy in it), over
what's going to be a colossally long period of time, gives enough interaction
surface that somewhere out there, a bacteria evolves that _breaks down
plastic_?

I hardly expect this would be the collapse of civilization or anything (as
depicted in the book), but it really could have some nasty consequences.
Plastic is relied on almost for precisely that reason - the fact that it
_doesn 't_ decay/rust/collapse over time. That's why we use it for stuff like
medical implants, safety gloves, food storage, sanitary containers ... you
name it. It could lose its un-decayable and its sanitary property in one go.

Kinda like the problem with overuse of antibiotics.

~~~
Blahah
There are already many bacteria (and fungi) that can break down plastics.
[http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-
science...](http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-
science/bacteria-landfill1.htm)

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namenotrequired
For those who care, please support The Ocean Cleanup:

[http://www.boyanslat.com/plastic/](http://www.boyanslat.com/plastic/)

An impressive undertaking (founded by a 19 year old, no less) that's creating
technology to solve this in ~5 years.

~~~
spodek
For those who care, please reduce your plastic use!

Please try to pollute less all around.

~~~
InclinedPlane
That does basically nothing. _My_ plastic either goes in recycling or the
trash. Even if it goes into the trash it will end up in a landfill, not the
ocean. The same is true for most folks in the 1st world. The problem is mostly
with the actions of people who do not read HN, countries that continue to have
poor or non-existent sanitation. Countries that still dump trash in the ocean.

~~~
wdvh
The obvious solution to this and other problems is to get these other people
into the first world. Free immigration isn't just an ethical issue, it's also
a practical solution to a lot of the problems that we as a society face.

~~~
xerula
Simplistic. There's not enough land/resources on the planet to sustain
everyone living a first world lifestyle at our current rates of energy
consumption and waste production.

~~~
InclinedPlane
Oh? Do you mind showing your work for that claim?

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washedup
The most amazing thing about these garbage patches are the large amounts of
bacteria that are feeding off the plastics.

[http://www.fastcoexist.com/1682478/welcome-to-the-
plastisphe...](http://www.fastcoexist.com/1682478/welcome-to-the-plastisphere-
the-new-world-of-microbes-living-on-ocean-plastic)

Life, uh, finds a way.

~~~
Filligree
That article doesn't say they're feeding off it, just colonizing it. I wonder
how long it'll be before you're correct, though.

~~~
washedup
Ah good point. For now the plastic must provide something analogous to
breeding grounds or points of community. Little plastic planetoids floating
through the watery abyss. Either way, there does exist plastic-eating (or
breaking down) bacteria:
[http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110328/full/news.2011.191.ht...](http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110328/full/news.2011.191.html)

~~~
raverbashing
I guess the UV exposure makes it easier (for bacteria, since UV helps breaking
the plastic down)

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grej
Here's a trailer on a current project to create a film about the impact of the
problem on Midway Atoll, in the Pacific Garbage Patch:
[http://aaronwolf.blogspot.com/2014/02/documentary-trailer-
mi...](http://aaronwolf.blogspot.com/2014/02/documentary-trailer-midway-
message-from_12.html)

It's heartbreaking.

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mzahir
The 5 Gyres Foundation [http://5gyres.org](http://5gyres.org) advocates both
cleaning up plastic from the ocean and cutting down the use of it

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RutZap
Imagine a small gadget (that would fit under the kitchen counter) that would
take your plastic waste and recycle it into a polymer of some sort that can be
used as material for 3d printers. Then you can recycle your plastic waste and
turn it back into other things. This sort of stuff will make plastic truly
valuable (which I think it is) and people will stop littering.

Now I don't know much about plastics so I can't say if that's possible or
not.. it would be nice if it was :D

~~~
Gravityloss
If the human can do the sorting since plastic is already marked with number
codes then this could be possible.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic_recycling](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic_recycling)

Easiest is to just collect it and burn it in a central facility though.
Simplified, you can burn everything except PVC (number three).

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rsync
How does the sediment rain in the ocean affect this ?

I would think that if the plastic pollution stopped one day, within a few
years most of the plastic would be sequestered at the bottom of the ocean.
Even though plastic floats, eventually it gets inside animal bodies which
eventually die and rain to the bottom ... yes ?

Genuinely curious...

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zebulom
In future generations there will be people who devote their lives to clean up
the mess that we made. And it will be good lives too.

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guard-of-terra
Perhaps we should employ harvester vessels that collect that garbage, make
something useful out of it?

~~~
citricsquid
There's a Vice _documentary_ [1] in which reporters visit the "garbage
island". The "garbage island" is not how you imagine it, it's literally an
ocean of tiny broken down particles of plastic[2] invisible to the naked eye
(when looking at the sea) that are in _everything_ , including the fish. There
is no way to remove the plastic through harvesting, the only option would be
to filter the sea water which has its own set of problems.

[1] [http://www.vice.com/en_uk/toxic/toxic-garbage-
island-1-of-3](http://www.vice.com/en_uk/toxic/toxic-garbage-island-1-of-3)

[2] [http://i.imgur.com/zLqSGsX.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/zLqSGsX.jpg)

~~~
bertil
I am curious what your take would be on that effort, mentioned in a different
thread:

The Ocean Cleanup:

[http://www.boyanslat.com/plastic/](http://www.boyanslat.com/plastic/)

------
vvvv
We may be witnessing the genesis of plastic-based lifeforms :P

~~~
alandarev
And the end of everything else.

~~~
washedup
Life is life. Some of it is good for humans, some of it is bad:

[http://www.fastcoexist.com/1682478/welcome-to-the-
plastisphe...](http://www.fastcoexist.com/1682478/welcome-to-the-plastisphere-
the-new-world-of-microbes-living-on-ocean-plastic)

~~~
RankingMember
So you're saying we should continue to do whatever we want, dump toxic waste
into the ocean, strangle dolphins with our plastic debris because "life, uh,
finds a way"?

~~~
jimcsharp
What did George Carlin say? Paraphrasing: "Maybe the Earth made humans because
it didn't know how to make plastic. Now it's done with us."

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periferral
If only we could collect all this and give it to this guy

[http://www.popsci.com/article/science/garbage-
man](http://www.popsci.com/article/science/garbage-man)

