The Great Garbage Patch is located between Hawaii and San Francisco in the Pacific ocean. It is roughly the size of Texas and contains 3.5 million tons of trash.

The garbage patch formed gradually as a result of marine pollution gathered by ocean currents. The rotational pattern draws in waste material from across the North Pacific Ocean and coastal waters off North America and Japan. Currents carry debris from the west coast of North America to the garbage patch in about five years, and debris from the east coast of Asia in a year or less. It is estimated that 80% of garbage comes from land-based sources with the remaining 20% from ships. (A 3,000 passenger cruise ship produces on average over eight tons of solid waste weekly)

Much of our waste today is comprised of plastic that does not biodegrade. Shoes, toys, bags, pacifiers, wrappers and plastic bottles are some of the items that can be found in this ‘accidental dump.’ Pollutants range in size from abandoned fishing nets to micro-pellets used in cleaners. These long-lasting plastics end up in the stomachs of marine birds and animals. Many have died from starvation and dehydration as a result of this. Fish are “ingesting plastic particles laced with toxic chemicals at such a rate that soon they will no longer be safe to eat.”

There is a video on this website that helped me understand the Great Garbage Patch further. http://www.greatgarbagepatch.org/