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This Hardworking Group Is Cleaning America's Last Frontier
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Eight million tons of plastic waste end up in our oceans every year. Currents in the Pacific bring much of that garbage up to beaches along the Alaska coastline. In 2002, a group of volunteers began cleaning up this debris, and in 2006 this work evolved into a project known as the Gulf of Alaska Keeper (GoAK). To date, GoAK “has removed over 3 million pounds of toxic plastic debris from over 1,500 miles of critical and sensitive coastal habitat.” In many locations, the debris has been accumulating for decades. The items GoAK removes from these coastline habitats aren’t just sent to landfills, they are all sorted, counted, logged, and weighed. In 2007, GoAK also started looking into the origin of the trash, which accumulates from all over the world, and is exacerbated by natural events such as the tsunami in Japan. We are all responsible. We all use plastic. We can all take action on a personal, local, regional, and national level to reduce the amount of waste and litter ended up in these environments.
Be The Change
1
Find out more about Gulf of Alaska Keepers and how you can support them in their critical work.
2
Write to and call your local, state, or national representatives to push for legislation against plastics, and to encourage discussion about environmental awareness, sustainable practices, and education.
3
Make a personal pledge to reduce your own plastic use. Reuse items you already have in your home, recycle those you can, and consider switching to alternatives such as reusable wrap made from beeswax, cotton, and resin, or glass mason jars.
Reflections (5)
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I feel so blessed that you are doing this work. I'd like to join when i retire.....
but we still have thick plastic wrap on most hardware items , and plastic bottles are increasing despite what we know.