Hey Mr. Green,

Is any organization working to clean up the huge mass of plastic in the ocean? We read about the problem but never see what action is being taken. I know people pick up waste on beaches, which I do too, but is the government or anyone else doing something?

⎯David in Arvada, Colorado

You have substantial reason for concern. Only about 9 percent of US plastic gets recycled, while about 15 percent is incinerated to generate electricity. Some scholars have predicted that if we do nothing to stem the insane flow, plastic might outweigh fish in the ocean by 2050. Of the almost 300 million metric tons of plastic manufactured each year, or about 85 pounds per person on Earth, an estimated 8 million tons will wind up in our oceans.

A number of groups are trying to end this aquatic assault, including 5 Gyres, the Oceanic Society, the Plastic Pollution Coalition, Algalita, the Plastic Soup Foundation, and Greenpeace. 

One organization, the Ocean Cleanup, has taken the most drastic approach by launching a 600-meter-long floater from Alameda, California, to trap some of the plastic in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (it had to return to port after an end section of the boom detached). Unfortunately, it would take an estimated 60 rigs to clean up just half of this monstrosity, which is now twice the size of Texas.