By Judith Burns
Science and environment reporter, BBC News
"Scientists have confirmed that there are millions of tonnes of plastic floating in an area of ocean known as the North Pacific Gyre. The North Pacific Gyre is a slow-moving clockwise vortex where four major ocean currents meet. Little lives there besides phytoplankton. However the currents have carried millions of tonnes of rubbish into the centre of the gyre, which now covers an area estimated to be larger than the US state of Texas."
My mother used to say, "You can't see me; I'm hiding behind my finger." It was her way of pointing out denial, though she would never have understood that as a psychological concept. She was, however, a realist and faced life squarely (except for her fear of what the neighbors might say!)
Humankind has been in denial for years, matching the waste of youth; thinking there is plenty of life ahead so if a bit is wasted here or there, so be it. Space is viewed as a vacuum, therefore, as Nature abhors a vacuum, space is quickly taken over when someone spots it.
The rain forest, the ocean, deep below the ground are all seen as potential waste dump sites. I'd like to have a poster drawn to full scale as 1"=1". I would put up the sign that moved me when I first spotted in the admitting area of a hospital. It said: "Please pick up after yourself. your mother doesn't work here." If people picked up after themselves they would waste far less time keeping their own nests clean, let alone those of the world. There would be no littering. People would take recycling more seriously. We would understand that, even if you can't see it, it doesn't mean it isn't there.
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