The plastic
in the ocean
isn’t what you think

About 11 million metric tons of plastic end up in the ocean each year, according to PEW Charitable Trusts.

Source: Pew Trusts

Scientists initially assumed that plastic in the ocean would float at the top, either in garbage patches or the gyres of the ocean — a large-scale system of wind-driven surface currents. There are five gyres located in the North and South Pacific Oceans, the North and South Atlantic Oceans, and the Indian Ocean, forming a circular pattern.

But only about 1 percent of the ocean’s estimated plastic floats at the surface, according to a 2020 report in Science. Instead, the plastic behaves as if caught in a whirlpool or shower drain: it is slowly sucked down into the middle of the gyre, taking at least 10 years to cycle back out — that is, if it doesn’t sink to the bottom of the ocean or get eaten by ocean life first.

Source: 5 Gyres, Science.org, The New York Times

So, that Great Pacific Garbage Patch is not a floating landfill of discarded water bottles after all. It’s more of a trash vortex, pulling in discarded fishing nets which can trap animals, and slowly degrading larger plastic pieces into a growing density of microplastics.

Sources: National Geographic; Oceana; NOAA

Says Sara Mais, spokesperson of 5 Gyres: “We know that there isn’t a floating island of trash twice the size of Texas in the middle of the ocean. It’s not something you could stand on, and you might not even see it if you were right there. It’s an accumulation zone of some large plastic debris, but it is mostly an area with high concentrations of this plastic smog on the surface of the ocean.”

“If you look at the surface of the ocean in the middle of a gyre, on a calm day, you can see this smog — it looks like confetti floating on the surface of the ocean.”

“The plastic ‘smog’ is a smog of microplastics contaminating habitats around the world. These small plastics get into food webs, and have been observed by scientists in hundreds of species,” says Mais.

Microplastics are smaller than a grain of rice — 5 millimeters or smaller. Some of it is broken down plastics, due to natural environmental degradation; some of it is purposely designed small bits of plastic, like microbeads in cosmetic products or synthetic polymers in deodorants, sunscreen, and hair products.

Sources: NOAA, National Geographic, Beat the Microbead

The most common culprits behind the ocean’s microplastics? Synthetic textiles, car tires, and city dust. They can take hundreds, or thousands, of years to decompose.

Sources: Instagram

Microplastics are everywhere: in the oceans, in Arctic snow and ice, in the air and rain, in the foods we eat (like seafood) and water we drink.

When ingested, microplastics can have a range of negative effects on organisms, says 5 Gyres — growth, mortality, changes to feeding behavior, liver damage, reproductive harm, and bioaccumulation of chemicals are all reported effects from microplastics. It’s not clear how consumed microplastics may harm human health — yet.

Organizations like 5Gyres and manufacturers like Moen are working together to make a difference. 5 Gyres is dedicated to tackling plastic pollution using science and research to find solutions, and working with policy makers and corporations to reduce plastics from emission, and extract plastic for repurposing. Moen has pledged in the next 10 years to recover 2,000 tons of ocean plastic and repurpose it for use in its product components and packaging.

Moen has used its marketing resources to help amplify the 5 Gyres story. Last year, Moen auctioned five NFTs — each representing an ocean gyre — to create awareness for ocean plastic recovery efforts, and donated the auction proceeds to the organization.

Moen is on track to reclaim 2,000 tons of ocean plastic and repurpose it into its products and packaging. Maritime plastic fibers can be found in components of their products, like the Nebia by Moen™ Quattro handshowers, wall mount tub fillers and M-Core Valves.