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Hawai‘i Public Radio takes an in-depth look at ‘ōpala in the islands in a week-long special series “Trashing Paradise.”From the lifespan and future of landfills to planning and policy choices facing voters and government officials, the topic of garbage is a timely one for all residents of Hawai‘i. Each island faces its own particular challenges, but we all need to consider the future implications of the decisions we’re making now when it comes to waste. The news team at HPR will consider a number of issues as part of this coverage

Trashing Paradise: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Steven Guerrisi / Flickr
Steven Guerrisi / Flickr

As we continue our series “Trashing Paradise,” we wanted to take a look at what happens to garbage near the ocean when it doesn’t go where it’s supposed to go.

When plastic is washed or dumped into the ocean, it doesn’t completely break down…instead it adds to a dangerous plastic soup.  Currents swirling around the pacific gather up marine debris light enough to float.  The trash is pushed together by the north pacific subtropical gyre, forming what scientists call “the Great Pacific Garbage Patch”. Plastics are broken down by current and sunlight into smaller and smaller sizes, some almost invisible to the eye. The exact size of the patch is difficult for scientists to measure as most of the debris floats beneath the surface and cannot be seen by satellite. Charles Moore is the captain of the Algalitaresearch vessel which tracks the Gyre. 

Moore says that the real danger comes from animals who ingest the tiny particles which can kill them or make its way back into human food sources. 

You can find our entire "Trashing Paradise" series here.

Nick Yee’s passion for music developed at an early age, as he collected jazz and rock records pulled from dusty locations while growing up in both Southern California and Honolulu. In college he started DJing around Honolulu, playing Jazz and Bossa Nova sets at various lounges and clubs under the name dj mr.nick. He started to incorporate Downtempo, House and Breaks into his sets as his popularity grew, eventually getting DJ residences at different Chinatown locations. To this day, he is a fixture in the Honolulu underground club scene, where his live sets are famous for being able to link musical and cultural boundaries, starting mellow and building the audience into a frenzy while steering free of mainstream clichés.
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