Shocking Caribbean photos reveal a sea of plastic and Styrofoam

[malaise]

https://inhabitat.com/shocking-caribbean-photos-reveal-a-sea-of-plastic-and-styrofoam/
<snip>
We hear about the issue of ocean plastic a lot, but these new photographs demonstrate just how pervasive the pollution is. Roatán-based photographer Caroline Power shared pictures on Facebook taken near the Caribbean island belonging to Honduras, revealing what she calls a “sea of plastic and Styrofoam”. Power said, “This has to stop.”

Power shared photographs of waves of plastic garbage floating in seaweed in a part of the world we tend to think of as pristine. Pressure group Blue Planet Society said the trash could have come from the Montagua River in Guatemala.

Power seems to have posted in hopes of prompting people to think about their own consumption of single-use plastic. She wrote in the Facebook post, “Think about your daily lives. How did you take your food to go last time you ate out? How was your last street food served? Chances are it was styrofoam and served with a plastic fork and then put in a plastic bag. Do you still use plastic garbage bags? Plastic soda bottles? Ziplock bags? Plastic wrap on your food? Do you buy toilet paper that comes wrapped in plastic instead of paper? Do you put your fruit and veggies in produce bags at the grocery?”

[Alice11111]

1. Thx for the post. OMG! What have we done? I'll make a few more changes.

[MontanaMama]

2. I knew what I was going to see when I

clicked on the link. Simply heartbreaking. We're working hard to eliminate plastic from our household. We recycle anything and everything we can. Still, it can be difficult...especially the plastic garbage bag thing. Does anybody here on DU have a good solution to plastic garbage bags? What about dog poo? I use plastic garbage bags for that mess...don't know what else to do.

[crazycatlady]

3. My new year's resolution last year

Was to eliminate plastic grocery bags from my life and use my reusables 100% of the time (including non grocery stores).

I stuck to it. If the items didn't fit (bought a lot of pink yarn) I carried them to the car.

[malaise]

5. I was thinking that we're all guilty

I avoid plastic bags as much as possible but I still use Ziplock and garbage bags. That said we buy nothing in styrofoam.

[crazycatlady]

7. I try not to buy styrofoam

But just last week, I bought some veggie burgers (Wegman's brand). They were in a cardboard box (or so I thought).

When I opened the box, they were individually wrapped and on a styrofoam meat tray. Packing was way too excessive.

[malaise]

8. We can try but you're right

Bring home a new TV or any tech stuff and it's wrapped in styrofoam.

[ProudLib72]

4. Truly horrifying

I knew it was going to be bad, but "France sized" is inexcusable.

[logosoco]

6. These photos are heartbreaking!

I try to do as much as I can to "reduce, reuse and recycle" but it never feels like enough!

Plastic made from hemp or corn is biodegradable and it would be really nice to have that as an option when buying plastic items.

[GusBob]

9. Single use plastic is the bane of our environment

Can some explain to me a more useless piece of plastic than a straw? Especially the cocktail straw.

[malaise]

12. That's a very good point. Most plastic is bad but given its cost effectiveness

I don't see plastic disappearing.

[GusBob]

17. There is hope for our oceans

I spent a month in March in New Zealand doing eco-tourism with 2 groups: Sustainable Coastlines and Sea Cleaners. Basically we were picking up rubbish in swamps. NZ has a bad problem with their drains and they are surrounded by water, the trash problem there is horrendous

I could go on and on about this, but the bottom line there is increased awareness. Those 2 groups are going country-wide in NZ, and the director of Sea Cleaners met with the US Navy in order to go pan-Asian and global. He actually met with the naval Fleet command in Hawaii and they are very interested as the trash messes with their engines and equipment

[malaise]

18. There's more awareness almost everywhere

particularly among the young

[Wellstone ruled]

10. Most of the Island's

employ the dump it in the Ocean method of waste disposal.

[malaise]

11. I'm betting most of it doesn't come from Honduras

I'd like to see the data why it ends up there. I do wonder if the tropical depressions, waves, storms and hurricanes play a significant part in where this mess end up.
We all clean it up or we all go down with the fish.

[Wellstone ruled]

14. Haveing had

acquaintance's who lived for years in the Caribbean,garbage was a issues and similar Island Nations were practicing the dumping in the Ocean policies. When the Hurricane's hit,the aftermath was very evident. All the upscale Resorts employ locals to pick the Breaches daily and in some cases,depending on Wind directions,several times a day,only to dump the trash back at a disposal site on the edge of the Ocean.

The worst experience we every had was,Oil Tankers dumping ballast,huge chunks of Crude wash up on the Beach's.

[malaise]

15. One of our friends has coproduced some

serious documentaries on the other side of tourism.

That said many local organizations and citizens are just as nasty and careless.

[Wellstone ruled]

16. Especially the Cruise Industry.

[malaise]

19. Absolutely

Then these poor ass islands fill them up with our best water and leave thousands deprived of their own natural life need.

[spanone]

13. K&R...

shame on humans as stewards of the earth

[malaise]

20. We stink

[spanone]

21. to high heaven...

[lpbk2713]

22. Humans are going to be the death of this planet.

The only variable is what method succeeds first.

Thanks for posting.

[malaise]

23. The thing is that the planet will

take us all down with it.

[MLAA]

26. It is a race to see which takes us down first

Our destruction of the planet or the GOP. I am serious.

[PatSeg]

24. Oh my god

Humans are such slobs. How on earth have we survived this long?

[pansypoo53219]

25. more reason to go to ,my butcher who uses butcher PAPER.

[MuseRider]

27. It was like that in the late 80's

when I was scuba diving a lot around Honduras. If you went to the side of the islands that the tide came in there was nothing but trash for the entire length of the beach both in the water and on the shore. It was so sad then. I see it is much bigger now. We have shit in our nest so badly that I am not sure we can recover.