Friday April 18, 2008, 2:58 pm
This is yet another tragedy today. Why oh why do people,corporations, etc., throw their debris in the ocean. Do they think it will never be seen or felt???

Friday April 18, 2008, 5:54 pm
Who knows Karen but its truly sad...what a mess. Thank you for sharing Cal and noted

Friday April 18, 2008, 6:01 pm



.

During the twentieth century, the City relied on a number of landfills for garbage disposal. Then, in December 2001, the city’s last garbage dump, Fresh Kills Landfill in Staten Island, closed.

In response, we adopted a 20-year plan for exporting waste.


It is hard to imagine a more environmentally damaging waste-management system than the one we have in New York.



Actually, it’s not so hard to imagine, if you look back and remember the

time when we dumped our garbage into the ocean.


Today, we collect garbage with trucks that use high-polluting diesel fuel and then dump that garbage onto the floor of waste transfer stations that are typically located in poor neighborhoods. We then scoop the garbage up off the floor and load it onto large trucks that also burn high-polluting diesel fuel and ship it to landfills and waste to energy incinerators located away from New York City.

While we own our entire water system, our waste system leaves us at the mercy of the private marketplace and the whims of Congress and other states. The current system of waste export leaves the city vulnerable over the long run. It is harder to site landfills in this region than it used to be. Political opposition to landfilling is growing in many dump site communities. Bills are regularly brought before Congress that would authorize local governments, state governments, and governors to restrict or prohibit the receipt of out-of-state waste.

Friday April 18, 2008, 6:02 pm

that's from

3. Wasted: New York City's Giant Garbage Problem | The New York Observer
"3 Apr 2008 ... New York City’s 8 million residents and millions of businesses, ... back and remember the time when we dumped our garbage into the ocean, ..."
www.observer.com/2008/wasted-new-york-citys-giant-garbage-problem

Friday April 18, 2008, 7:36 pm
The trash we do not properly deal with will and up at our tables, as our food has been fed somewhere: it either grew from the ground or in the ocean. Bad food means bad health. We must all contribute to a cleaner world.

Saturday April 19, 2008, 2:10 pm
Unbeleivable

Saturday April 19, 2008, 4:19 pm
Thank God the Ocean Conservacy has taken up the cause. Imagine if they didn't do the clean up? And why so many people are such slobs is disturbing. They wouldn't like it if people came and trashed their home.

Sunday April 20, 2008, 2:39 pm
A lot of this stuff is washed up from the garbage that was dumped off the coast of Sandy Hook 10 of 15 years ago and its now finding its way on the lovely Jersey coast line.

Sunday April 20, 2008, 5:57 pm
TY Cal

Sunday April 20, 2008, 8:16 pm
I just took a walk this afternoon (north county coastal San Diego, CA- Solana Beach)... and picked up about 3 plastic bottles, 2 aluminum cans, ~10 balloon strings, various plastics, etc. I had one guy say, "people like you ROCK!" It's really sad that one walk on a small stretch of beach would result in this much trash. I'm looking forward to next week's Int'l Coastal Cleanup...

Thursday April 9, 2009, 7:57 pm
I saw a show about how Sea Bird Chicks were found dead on the beaches their bellies full of trash. In the show it talked about how the ocean has currents that cross back and forth across the ocean and that a large amount of the floating trash in the ocean is being collected in these large areas between currents heading in opposed directions. The sea birds are mistaking this trash for food and feeding it to their chicks. I was thinking what if we take an old Cargo ship and refitting it with a conveyor system that skims the trash off the surface of the ocean, a sorting belt system to return any sea life back to the ocean and divided out the recyclables, a compactor to compress the trash so it can be stored in a few cargo containers to then be off loaded at the next port, and maybe an incinerator for the trash that can be safely burned. scooping up the trash at sea may turn out to be more effective then amassing the manpower to pick up the trash after it has washed up on shore.

So why tell you? I would like to see this Ocean Cleaning Ship set sail and I will continue to work on it's development but I am limited in resources and thought you might be able to help me track down some information.

who would I have to talk to about getting grants or other funding to start the project off?
where are these floating masses of trash located and how large an area do they cover?
what kind of weather and sea conditions would I have to deal with in those areas?
who would want to rent space on the ship for doing research as it will be spending many months out to sea at a time