Marine Debris - Where do all those plastic bags go?
When the winds kick up in Chicago, I often see plastic bags take flight from where they lie discarded on the ground. They lift higher and higher until they disappear against the clouds or behind a high rise. Have you ever wondered where they land?
More often than we might expect, the answer is the Great Lakes. In other places, rain and urban runoff sweep those bags into stormwater drains and out to sea. The natural flow of ocean currents and the almost eternal life span of plastic trash even mean that there are huge floating skeins of garbage, such as this Texas-sized "garbage patch" in the Pacific Ocean.
Why are marine debris such a big deal? No one wants to play on a shoreline lined with trash, or pay for a tropical island getaway only to find the sand littered with cigarette butts, weather beaten bottles and mystery plastics. What’s more, as inconvenient and downright gross as trash can be for people, it poses a very real threat to the survival of aquatic wildlife. This jaw-dropping video shows how something as innocuous as a lost toy can hurt one of the ocean’s top predators.
While marine debris can seem like an overwhelming issue, the truth that it doesn’t take much to solve the problem. If we dispose of our trash properly, our oceans and lakes won’t become watery landfills. It’s as simple as putting your garbage in the can instead of tossing it on the street, recycling your cans, or choosing longer-lasting products that won’t need to be thrown away in a week. If you like to fish, you can make a big difference by collecting any snagged fishing line from wherever it’s tangled. To learn more, I’d highly recommend checking out the marine debris information on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s website – and please consider meeting Shedd for a beach cleanup on the shores of Lake Michigan this summer!
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