The Pacific Garbage Patch: How We Have Failed to Live in Harmony

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Abstract

covers 1.6 million square kilometres (620,000 square miles)<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacific_garbage_patch#cite_note-5">[5]</a> consisting of 45,000–129,000 metric tons (50,000–142,000 short tons) of plastic as of 2018.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacific_garbage_patch#cite_note-Evidence-6">[6]</a> The same 2018 study found that, while microplastics dominate the area by count, 92% of the mass of the patch consists of larger objects which have not yet fragmented into microplastics. Some of the plastic in the patch is over 50 years old, and includes items (and fragments of items) such as “plastic lighters, toothbrushes, water bottles, pens, baby bottles, cell phones, plastic bags, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic_resin_pellet_pollution">nurdles</a>.</p></blockquote><p id="8539">If I look at this abomination of an island as a symbol for our insane need to consume, it reminds me of a woman I did care-taking for, who would sit for long periods of time, twirling her hair into spirals of discontent and paranoid thoughts.</p><p id="538e">While this patch grows each year, causing untold suffering for marine and bird life, not to mention our own, as we ingest microplastic in our food and water, there are some pretty clever people out there who want to do right, and are inventing technologies that will help ameliorate what we have wrought.</p><p id="3671">However, if we don’t learn from our mistakes and live simply and in harmony with all beings and the planet, we will continue to destroy ourselves.</p><div id="a685" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readme

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dium.com/in-the-bud-bb09fc220c3f"> <div> <div> <h2>in the bud</h2> <div><h3>A nonet on lost time</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*s5XRhieKg3KRKeohn76iwQ.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="15a0" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/poetry-playground-writing-prompt-15-d973b192e879"> <div> <div> <h2>Poetry Playground Writing Prompt #15</h2> <div><h3>An ocean of possibility</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*S3bOxuXuhvFrAdnq)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><p id="82d0">Join us at Poetry Playground:</p><div id="1da8" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/welcome-to-the-playground-1742f35a3159"> <div> <div> <h2>Welcome to the Playground</h2> <div><h3>Let the play begin!</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*JNJMst2995mgzItmX-7-fw.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div></article></body>

A Nonet poem and commentary

More than plastic, we have thrown away not to mention cigarette butts but with each piece of rubbish gone with out-going tides creating islands these tumor gyres reminders we have failed

— Janaka Stagnaro

Thank you for reading my Nonet, my first one. I was inspired by BJ Dawson’s, which you can see below. I combined that inspiration with Jonny Masters prompt in Poetry Playground (see down below) about writing a poem about the sea.

I usually write about the ocean as a metaphor for consciousness, but the sad image of islands of garbage came into my head. Ocean gyres are vortexes of ocean currents, and there are five on the planet. One of them is called The Great Pacific Garbage Patch. According to Wikipedia:

Researchers from The Ocean Cleanup project claimed that the patch covers 1.6 million square kilometres (620,000 square miles)[5] consisting of 45,000–129,000 metric tons (50,000–142,000 short tons) of plastic as of 2018.[6] The same 2018 study found that, while microplastics dominate the area by count, 92% of the mass of the patch consists of larger objects which have not yet fragmented into microplastics. Some of the plastic in the patch is over 50 years old, and includes items (and fragments of items) such as “plastic lighters, toothbrushes, water bottles, pens, baby bottles, cell phones, plastic bags, and nurdles.

If I look at this abomination of an island as a symbol for our insane need to consume, it reminds me of a woman I did care-taking for, who would sit for long periods of time, twirling her hair into spirals of discontent and paranoid thoughts.

While this patch grows each year, causing untold suffering for marine and bird life, not to mention our own, as we ingest microplastic in our food and water, there are some pretty clever people out there who want to do right, and are inventing technologies that will help ameliorate what we have wrought.

However, if we don’t learn from our mistakes and live simply and in harmony with all beings and the planet, we will continue to destroy ourselves.

Join us at Poetry Playground: