The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

People across our planet are increasingly aware of the growing amounts of trash floating in our oceans. While we are finding new ways to collect it, the more vexing problem is what to do with it.

The garbage is accumulating in “gyres” which are large systems of circulating ocean currents, kind of like slow-moving whirlpools. Though the oceans are home to many gyres, there are five that have a significant impact on our environment.

For example, our litter which makes its way into the open ocean mixes with junk from northeastern Asia and ends up in Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP), the world’s...