Here is the first blog written by one of our newest emlpoyees Ash Forshaw, he’s only been here 6 weeks and he continues to progress and gain more confidence, we would be greatful for your feedback on Ash’s first blog, thanks.

In the broad expanse of the Northern Pacific Ocean there exists the northern Pacific Subtropical Gyre, a slowly moving, clockwise spiral of currents created by a high pressure system of air currents. The area is like a oceanic desert, filled with tiny phytoplankton but few big fish or mammals. Due to a lack of large fish and light breezes, it is not a hot spot for fishermen or sailors, so they rarely travel through the Gyre. But there is something besides plankton that lurks the pacific: TRASH, millions of pounds of it, most of it plastic. It’s the largest landfill in the world, and it floats in the middle of the ocean.

The Gyre has actually formed two large masses of ever-accumulating trash, known as the Western and Eastern Pacific Garbage Patches, sometimes collectively called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The Eastern Garbage patch floats between Hawaii and California: scientists estimate its size as two times bigger than Texas other scientists say it is 700,000 square kilometers (270,000 sq mi). The Western Garbage Patch forms east of Japan and west of Hawaii. Each swirling mass of refuse is massive and accumulates trash from all over the world. The patches are connected by a thin 6,000 mile long current called the Subtropical Convergence Zone. Research flights showed that significant amounts of trash also accumulate in the Convergence Zone.

Most of the trash floating in the pacific is plastic.  To be exact 90% of trash floating in the world’s oceans is plastic. The United Nations Environment Programme estimated in 2006 that every square mile of ocean hosts 46,000 pieces of floating plastic. In some areas, the amount of plastic outweighs the amount of plankton by a ratio of six to one. Of the more than 200 billion pounds of plastic the world produces each year, 10 percent ends up in the ocean. Seventy percent of that eventually sinks, damaging life on the ocean floor. The rest floats, much of it ends up in the Gyres and the massive garbage patches that form there, with some plastic eventually washing up on a distant shore.

This obviously has an effect on the wildlife some of these long-lasting plastics end up in the stomachs of marine birds and animals, and their young, including sea tutles, and the black-footed albatross. Besides the particles danger to wildlife, the floating debris can absorb organic pollutants from the seawater, including PCBs, DDT, and PAHs. Aside from toxic effects, when ingested, some of these are mistaken by the endocrine system as estradiol, causing hormone disruption in the affected animals. These toxin-containing plastic pieces are also eaten by jellyfish, which are then eaten by larger fish. Many of these fish are then consumed by humans, resulting in their ingestion of toxic chemicals. Marine plastics also facilitate the spread of invasive species that attach to floating plastics in one region and draft long distances to colonize other ecosystems. Research has shown that this plastic marine debris affects at least 267 species worldwide and a few of the 267 species reside in the North Pacific Gyre.

Personally I think this should have been dealt with earlier instead of letting it escalate into an environmental disaster. They only started the cleanup in 2008 where they were able to gather 6.8 million tonnes of trash, mostly from inland waterways, in 104 countries which just shows how many countries this is affecting.

LET’S TAKE ACTION NOW

iT Showcase Magazine is a publication which discusses the role of IT in the construction industry. This is the third year they will be running their annual awards at Interbuild, where they host an entire section dedicated to the subject.

We have been contacted by the magazine and informed that BuilderScrap has been selected to win the new Eco-IT Product award, and will be presented with the award on Wednesday 29th October at the Interbuild exhibition.

This is fantastic news and we are all really excited and pleased. Let’s hope it’s the first of many!