Map of the North Pacific Subtropical Convergence Zone (STCZ) within the North Pacific Gyre. Also the location of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Credit: NOAA.

VBS join a crew on a trip to the Northern Gyre, a Texas-sized section of the Pacific Ocean irretrievably clogged with garbage that will never go away. After a week of sailing, to reach one of the remotest points on earth, they land upon a giant pool of chemical soup with bits and whole chunks of refuse that will never biodegrade. The message is clear, once the plastic becomes small enough to be consumed by jellyfish it moves back up the food chain to us. We are in fact ‘eating our own refuse’, filled with toxins and chemicals that cause an absurd amount of health problems including cancer and genetic mutations, to name a few.