Everyone throws their trash away without really thinking about where it goes. What you may not know is that a lot of waste ends up in our oceans. You may think it's no big deal and it's just a small piece of trash in a very big ocean, but it's not just a small piece of trash. Actually, it's a lot. There is a place between California and Hawaii called the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre, but it is better known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. This area is the largest landfill in the world and is entirely in the ocean. What are the effects of landfilling on the environment and how can it be prevented and returned to its original state? The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is an area of ​​the ocean filled primarily with trash, most of which is non-biodegradable, such as plastic and glass. It continues to grow and accumulate every year and is twice the size of Texas! The existence of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch has been predicted by many oceanographers and climatologists. However, the true discovery of the patch was made by a racing boat captain, Charles Moore. Moore was sailing from Hawaii to California, after participating in a sailing race crossing the North Pacific subtropical gyre. Moore and his crew noticed millions of pieces of plastic surrounding his ship. (National Geographic) There are more than 3.5 million pounds of plastic in trash cans. What are the effects of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch on the environment and how can it be prevented and returned to its original state? Cleanup is going to take time and effort and everyone can help. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a stretch of several thousand miles where plastic and other debris collects due to what is called the North P.....and yes, it will take a lot of time, but it's our fault. We can't keep pretending the patch isn't there. We will save abundant wildlife and ourselves. You may think that you don't live by the ocean and therefore can't help the cause, but that's not true. Everyone can and should help. We need to do things like reuse water bottles and plastic containers and recycle! This won't completely stop the plot from growing, but it will significantly reduce growth until we can find a more effective solution to keep the land and its inhabitants healthy. http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/earth/oceanography/great-pacific-garbage-patch.htm http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/encyclopedia/great-pacific-garbage-patch/?ar_a= 1 http://marinedebris.noaa.gov/info/patch.htmlhttp https://discovermagazine.com/2008/jul/10-the-worlds-largest-dump