The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

I have always had a heart for the environment, ever since, in the 60’s, I discovered Albert Schweitzer’s writings on “Reverence for Life” and decided I was going to respect every living being. Back then, there was no awareness of the effects on the environment of chlorine, plastic and other such things. Although most of us used Clorox, I had no idea I was also drinking that stuff in the tap water, or washing my hair with it. The supermarkets gave us brown paper bags, and we would have laughed if anyone suggested we actually pay for a drink of water in a bottle.  Yes folks, that was the 60’s!

Today, there are not too many people who have not heard of global warming, recycling, or the green movement. And yet, in this beautiful paradise we call the North Fork, I go to the local markets and I am not even given the option of paper or plastic. I usually bring my own bags, and it pleases me to see that many other people do, too. But the majority really don’t and the local markets don’t seem to care. 

I was in the small island of Sardinia a few years ago, where recycling was a religion. Sardinia in many ways is a lot like the North Fork, with many little farm stands dotting the landscape, lots of sunshine and beaches, and people generally in a summer mood. Many of the visitors to the island are, like many of us in the North Fork, summer people. That’s where the similarities end. In the local supermarkets, there is no way you can get any kind of bag when you check out. It is just not an option. It’s either bring your own or pick up a box to use for your groceries. No other choices. If they are out of boxes, you are out of luck. The same thing was true in Florence, and in many places I visited in France. At home in Sardinia, recycling was a big job. First of all, there was the calendar of pick ups for different kinds of garbage:  Monday was paper, Tuesdays and Thursdays “organic garbage," Fridays was glass, plastic and cans. All of this stuff had to be placed in separate containers. If you didn’t comply, the garbage was left behind. I did not hear anyone there complain about having to do this, as tedious a job as it was. It has become so engrained in the European way of life that it is just accepted, no questions asked.

Somehow, it does not seem too difficult to implement something similar in the North Fork. Most of us shop in local markets or farm stands and accept a plastic bag. We might use these again and again, happy that we are “recycling." And yet, the U.S. recycles only about 7 percent of the plastic we consume and in the Pacific Ocean, there is a gyre of marine litter, mostly plastic, that is about twice the size of the state of Texas! I know some readers will tell me that there are some local places that don’t offer plastic bags, and I am grateful to them. But “some” is just not enough.

As I think about the beautiful summer ahead, and the thousands of people who are going to be here, I would like to see that supermarkets and farmstands give us no choice: Either bring your own or carry to your car. I would like to see all of us take a stand, and bring our own bags. I would like to see more of us drink water from a metal or glass bottle, rather than adding more plastic to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. And that’s just for starters.