Monday, June 29, 2009

What we do to our planet

Did you know that there's a vortex of floating plastic in the Pacific Ocean twice the size of the state of Texas? It's a particularly bad situation because as the plastic is affected by weather and UV, it disintegrates into smaller and smaller pieces. Notice I didn't say 'biodegrades', because it doesn't. These pieces are entering the food chain, killing marine life and the situation gets worse by the day.

Luckily, somebody cares about this and is mounting a project to try and get rid of the plastic over the next few years and recycle it into diesel fuel. Project Kaisei will study the effects of plastic pollution and try to figure out how to capture, detoxify, and recycle it into diesel fuel. Out of work fishermen will troll the ocean for the trash and use it to make fuel for their boats. They’ll also be making a documentary of the process for National Geographic.

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