You Don't Want to See This- Just Look the Other Way

byTJRANDO

1.4K followers

Updated 9 years ago

Hawaii’s Plastic Beach

Welcome to Kamilo Beach Hawaii

It may be easier just to look the other way, ignore it or pretend it doesn't exist. Either way it doesn't effect you right?

Well no not exactly, it does affect you and everyone -just not at the same time. What I'm talking about is the growing problem of pollution in our waters.

It’s a difficult issue to tackle, because even in the parts of the ocean that we can see, most of the trash actually sinks or floats below the surface, making it hard to determine just how much trash we have actually dumped into the water. Earth’s oceans are vast – they cover much of the planet’s surface – and most of that area is never visited or even seen by people, which can make it easy to ignore the growing problem of pollution in our waters.

Out of sight is out of mind right?

One place where all this pollution is being made painfully obvious is Hawaii’s Kamilo Beach, where every year tons of garbage are being deposited by the waves on what was once a beautiful pristine white sand beach.

Trash from all over the world gets swept up in what is known as the North Pacific Gyre, a swirling ocean current that circles the Pacific between North America and Japan.

These predictable currents, and the Hawaiian Islands act like a comb, collecting trash as it blows by. A tremendous amount of this waste ends up on the once white sands of Kamilo Beach, situated on the southern tip of Hawaii’s Big Island, now home to a vast pile of garbage that is miles long and as deep as ten feet in some places.

The majority of the trash that washes up on Kamilo Beach is plastic

Plastic bags, food containers, toothbrushes and household waste of all kinds can all be found piled high on the shore as well as a considerable amount of industrial plastic waste, including fishing nets, ropes, buoys, and cages.

While this trash is awful to look at, dangerous and a health hazard, what it has done to the local wildlife is particularly horrific. It can mangle, trap, or choke wildlife both in the water and on shore.

Also the easily missed but no less dangerous tiny plastic pellets known as nurdels which result from the breakdown of larger plastic trash, soak up surrounding toxins like BPA, DDT, and phthalates, which are then ingested by the organisms that mistakenly eat the pellets. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) sends out divers every year to disentangle all this debris from the delicate coral reefs around Hawaii, but it continues to pile up with no end in sight.

The shoreline on Kamilo Beach includes millions of these tiny pieces of plastic mingled in with the sand.

Where Does All This Trash Come From?

Coming from all over the world the trash that washes ashore in Hawaii comes from coastal landfills, dumped off the side of boats, or swept out from shore with the tide. Because the ocean actually slows down the decomposition of plastic, all the trash debris can travel on ocean currents for several decades before they end up deposited on Kamilo Beach. Plastic from WWII airplanes has been found in the stomach's of local wildlife!

Note- Kamilo Beach is not the only place this waste is washing up on, as most beaches in the world are showing signs of ongoing pollution of all types.

What Can We Do?

In every aspect of life you can try and avoid the continued use of plastic. Use glass instead of plastic bottles, and replace plastic bags, bottles, and other items with reusable or compostable options.

Also make sure that the plastic you do use makes it way to a recycling center and stays out of the trash bin. There are many way we can be more environmentally responsible if we chose to look for it, and actually do it.

One way is to contribute to environmental cleanup efforts by donating money to organizations that research and dispose of ocean trash, or you can volunteer with local programs that provide education and trash pickups in your area.

Remember what I said at the beginning of this post "it does affect you and everyone -just not at the same time. No matter where it is, the garbage piling up in our environment will find and effect you eventually.

It is a problem that concerns us all, and when we make even small changes, it can add up to a big difference. Realize that even one person can make a difference!

So what are your thoughts about what is happening now at Kamilo Beach and how we can effect even small changes to help clean up our environment.