A Mermaid's Tear: Mardi Gras In NOLA = Below Sea Level Plastic Garbage

Mardi Gras In NOLA = Below Sea Level Plastic Garbage

By Stiv Wilson on March 10, 2011
(Photo by Patrick Semansky, NOLA)

Wow. This is one of those times when you think about celebration, you think about consequence, you think about excess, you think about consumerism, you think about the fact that there are fewer than 500 people in the world working on oceanic plastic issues full time and you kind of freak out.

We have a long way to go in this movement. For all the inspiration, good work and good people sometimes the monster we fight shows his face and we're all taken aback. But never say die. Support us. Please. http://5gyres.org/

A Mermaid's Tear

A "mermaid's tear" or "nurdle" is the pre-production plastic pellet used in manufacturing. Billions of these, including the particles of decades of plastic garbage, have filled our oceans and beaches posing an extreme environmental threat to wildlife and people.

Who could ever have imagined when these little plastic nurdles were invented about 100 years ago that they would now out number plankton in the oceans 46 to 1. Did you know that there are some 50,000 pieces of plastic floating in every square mile of the ocean? Yes, these stats are enough to boggle the mind. But what can we do about it and why does it matter? Well, I've been compelled to dive in and find out.
Trash on beaches is obvious to everyone. But I wonder how we can just accept this as the price of modern civilization? Is this the legacy we want to leave our children; beaches covered in waste? It's a tragedy, not only for the loss of beauty which is of priceless value, but also the loss of animal habitat (extinction) and the poisons from plastic waste that are infecting many layers of the food chain. Millions of animals, birds and fish are dying from ingesting plastic pieces in the ocean and researchers are only now starting to investigate the effects on humans who eat the fish that consume plastic. The research is now being shown that plastic debris act like sponges in the ocean absorbing chemicals like DDT and PCB's.
The point is that if more people know about what's floating in our oceans and what it's doing to our ecosystem including ourselves then I'm sure we would all be more willing to adopt a few simple changes in lifestyle that can make a huge difference.

Ending the use of single use plastic bottles is an obvious first step. They've been proven to leach chemicals like phthalates and Bisphenol A into our bodies which are linked to both cancer and hormone disruption. Plus the billions we use are not necessarily getting recycled or ending up in land fills but are instead finding their way into the oceans. The second worst offender is the single use plastic bag. They pollute our waterways, oceans and landscapes by the millions wrecking havoc on our environment and wildlife. It's an obviously easy problem to solve by just using reusable bags.

Please join me in creating some awareness about this tremendously important issue. Nothing matters more than the health of our planet and our bodies. I feel it's our fundamental responsibility to respect and take care of our planet for future generations and the many species we share it. Creating more consciousness and action about our addiction to single use plastic is an important first step.

Why I started this blog

I had the gift of visiting one of the richest coral reef ecosystems remaining in the world a few years ago in Raja Ampat Indonesia. (in pictures below) This magical place cast a spell on me and I was left changed forever. But it was upon my return to land in the port city when I was most deeply struck by the contrast of heaping piles of plastic garbage covering the beaches. Deeply effected by this I felt moved to try to do something to protect what's left of our planet's beauty from encroaching pollution. I didn't have any idea how to make a difference especially in a land so far away until I later learned about the ocean's gyres and the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Indeed our trash here in the US follows the currents to pollute beaches and habitats in many remote places around the world.

This blog is one mermaids cry for awareness and action. We must wake up out of our collective trance to realize the destructive and perhaps irreversible toll our mass consumption and disposal of non-biodegradable plastic is taking on our planet.

Our oceans beauty is smothering under a tsunami of plastic debris. The time to act is now.

A Mermaid's Tear

Mardi Gras In NOLA = Below Sea Level Plastic Garbage

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