really? wow…

the problem, as usual is the world’s addiction to petroleum ie:plastic. and a good dose of ignorance and lack of caring. (not directed at anyone in particular)

andrew, you are sort of right. there is, from what i understand, no “island” of plastic the size of texas. but one of the major problems that IS happening is every year, millions of pieces of plastic are floating out to sea, mostly from our rivers and shores (over 85% of the plastic in oceans comes from shore as opposed to boats, etc) which drift around for however long, slowly, very slowly breaking down because of wave motion, UV rays, etc. into smaller and smaller particles until they are about the size of a grain of sand. these particles very closely resemble the food for many small baitfish. these small baitfish eventually get eaten by bigger fish, birds and other organisms all the way up on the food chain including us. i’m sure you see where this is going.

checked out a pretty cool presentation by a group that’s been studying the effects of this for over 10 years at the Keen office in Portland, OR last year. if you’d like to see what they are doing and get more information about what i’ve been babbling about, you can check out their site at:

http://www.junkraft.com

The mayor of portland was at this presentation as well. He’s trying to get plastic grocery bags (which are one of the worst offenders) banned in the city of Portland. would be a great thing if he can make it happen. such a great city.

i believe what truly is the problem, is the most driving force in this world is money. big business and industry will do whatever it takes to swerve perception and distract the masses in the name of more money.

until community, health, the well being of our earth and it’s ecosystems become the most important factor for the majority…

every bit helps. thanks Rob for putting this up.

As a photographer, I primarily go out in the world and see what it offers me visually. I know when I have something with a bite, and will often work from there to distill meaning from it.

I’ve also worked starting from an idea and thought about how to represent that idea visually, which you see more in fine art photography and is more akin with painting. This tends to be the way that editors work as they often have a story in place and then generate images. [I'd be curious to know (outside of an expose on an artist) if pieces have been produced where the photographer lays the foundation and then writer generates supporting text - even going out in the field to cover the photographer's tracks.]

A photo editor (Rob? David?) would probably have better insight as I’m interested in hearing more about that challenge of visual representation (idea = starting point v. the image = starting point) with photography. Pulling meaning from images has helped me develop as a photographer, though I find that starting from an idea/story is really helping develop my work now.

Didn’t think of Googling, “Midway Island dead bird plastic”?
117K hits, many go back to 2006 or earlier:

http://images.google.com/images?gbv=2&hl=en&safe=off&ie=ISO-8859-1&sa=1&q=midway+island+dead+bird+plastic&btnG=Search+images

Always look to stock photography for inspiration, IMO. regards

A real wake-up call to the world.

The story was on the Northwestern islands of the Hawaii chain, by David Liittschwager and Susan Middleton from the October 2005 issue of NGM. In addition to the photograph of the birds and their stomach contents, their images of debris washed up on the shore also illustrated this subject.

An audio slide show that includes the work is here:

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2005/10/hawaii/sights-sounds-interactive

Like Rob, we’ve tried to find a way to create compelling images of the “eddy of garbage” in the Pacific, but our own investigations on it show that it actually does not look the way it sounds. Statistically there is indeed a concentration of floating debris, but physically the material is all too spaced apart to look as interesting as it sounds. A floating bag here, a tangle of fishing line here, but no solid swirling mass, or at least not one that can be easily gotten to.

I applaud Chris for addressing this issue and bringing further light to the plight of wildlife affected by this waste.

David Griffin, Director of Photography, National Geographic magazine

i’ve lost my ability to be cordial on this.

the problem andrew is not that birds are eating garbage from our dumps. it is the unsustainable desire for cheap, disposable products. it is the consumerism that drives the american economy. it is the idiots like you who fail to see the forest because of the trees.

stupid bad information- good god.

But you need to be properly informed of what is actually the problem. “The great pacific garbage patch,” TOTAL FICTION. This essay isn’t proof of anything but the fact that birds eat garbage from our dumps and that is the problem that needs addressing.

The supposed location of the “pacific garbage patch” is somewhere near Hawaii not the norther pacific where these photos were taken. I’m sorry but I just get irritated when stupid bad information gets propagated.

I find it interesting that this is coming to the forefront of the media again and it is good! I have spent a lot of time in the wilderness sections of Parks in California and you see it posted often, “Pack it in, Pack it out!” I often pick up a couple extra pieces of trash, and I dont’ remember who said it in their comment, it is about responsiblity! Not just in the parks or at the beach but everywhere.

Hey, I like getting the money for recyled plastics and glass and cans and… it’s extra gas money and the occasional burger.

Lest we get too uppity, photography related industry.. manufacture, processing and printing.. isn’t especially eco-friendly.

the world need to be more responsible

the word SUSTAINABILITY needs to be translated and shared in every language

the modern world is a disposable society
the world is not disposable

In Los Angeles people can volunteer for beach clean up days with Heal the Bay. Nature Conservancy also does a very good job of working to restore many waterways and natural areas around the world. While there’s not a lot of cash to spare right now – they and many other non-profit groups could use our help in the daunting clean-up task. We can also skip buying plastic whenever possible. Steel water bottles work great. Thanks for posting this.

Seems like cleaning up the oceans could render a lot of jobs. That’s my vote for best use of stimulus dollars.

What a reminder to manage every spec of trash. Here in Seattle, where Jordan is based, the city trash cans clearly spell out that if you put something in the trash that it’s going in the landfill, or as we see, in the bellies of tiny birds.

I’ve also heard that there are miles of coast line in the far reaches of Alaska that’s piled high with heaps of garbage, also due to the currents.