Plastic, plastic everywhere. Only 1,000 miles northeast of us is enough of the stuff to cover Texas, twice.

This New York Times article reminded me of the enormous “expanding islands of trash” floating in the Pacific (and other large bodies of water) that I’ve known about for a couple of years. The garbage patch is dominated by everyday plastic items, like water bottles and toothbrushes, as well as fishing materials, such as fishing lines and nets. If you haven’t already seen photos from the patch, or even if you have, it’s definitely a sight to see. I can hardly wrap my mind around it.

In one photo, a researcher holds up a plastic water bottle covered in barnacles, and I wondered who drank from that bottle before it ended up in the ocean. It was one of us. Maybe it was me. While I try to limit my use of disposable plastic items, I still buy the occasional bottle of water when I’m out, or take home plastic bag from the grocery, or use plastic cutlery at the office. These photos are a reminder that I can challenge myself to do more by using less. What can you do to limit the amount of garbage you produce?