Trash vortexes are created by the ocean currents washing trash and toxic pollutants to areas such as one near Hawaii that has reached a size approximately the same as the state of Texas. Greenpeace maintains that these vortexes contain toxins such as plastic. Other pollutants also reside in these vortexes. When they break down in the water, the result is a sample that resembles what you can find in a snow globe. Not only that, marine life is endangered by ingesting the plastic. As a result they literally choke or starve to death because it has blocked their digestive systems.
Efforts are being made to collect and remove these pollutants. Fortunately, scientists are making progress in developing new plastics that are actually biodegradable. These new plastics are made from a corn by product. You can read more about the many products made from corn in my article Corn: The Miracle Crop of the Modern World.
These vortexes are a global problem and can not be left to one nation to address. The entire world must join together and keep our Mother Earth healthy and clean. With the advances in technology that have occurred in the last few decades, there is no excuse for letting this problem continue.
Greenpeace pioneered the now world wide campaign to clean up our planet. Created to combat the affects of the nuclear tests being done in Alaska, Greenpeace has expanded their mission to include environmental abuses that endanger wildlife species. The Greenpeace home page displays their concern for the oceans and the affect pollution has had on their ecosystems.
