Page 18 - Trashing the Planet: Examining Our Global Garbage Glut

“THERE WERE SHAMPOO CAPS AND SOAP BOTTLES AND PLASTIC BAGS KALLEN

AND FISHING FLOATS AS FAR AS I COULD SEE. HERE I WAS IN THE
MIDDLE OF THE OCEAN, AND THERE WAS NOWHERE I COULD

GO TO AVOID THE PLASTIC.”

—CHARLES J. MOORE, DESCRIBING THE GREAT PACIFIC
GARBAGE PATCH

“WHAT WAS ONCE A GREEN AND FRUITFUL LANDSCAPE IS NOW A

GRAVEYARD OF PLASTICS AND SKELETONS OF ABANDONED
APPLIANCES. . . . THE TOXIC FUMES RISE INTO THE SKY, POISON THE

AIR AND THEN SETTLE ON THE SOIL AND ON THE VEGETABLES SOLD
AT THE MARKET.” TRASHING THE PLANET EXAMINING OUR GLOBAL GARBAGE GLUT

—ENVIRONMENTALIST MIKE ANANE, DESCRIBING A HUGE
E-WASTE DUMP IN ACCRA, GHANA

“YES, IT WILL BE ONE OF THE LARGEST ENVIRONMENTAL

RESCUE OPERATIONS YET, BUT WE CREATED THIS MESS.
HECK, WE EVEN INVENTED THIS NEW MATERIAL [PLASTIC] FIRST
BEFORE WE MADE THIS MESS, SO PLEASE DON’T TELL ME WE CAN’T

CLEAN THIS UP TOGETHER.”

—INVENTOR BOYAN SLAT, DISCUSSING HIS PLAN TO
REMOVE TRASH FROM THE WORLD’S OCEANS