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It looks like the news can get more depressing. A massive garbage patch was discovered in the Atlantic Ocean that is 1,000 miles long. It is the Atlantic Ocean’s answer to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which has been making news for the past few years.

The patch was found by student researchers participating in the Sea Education Association’s semester academic program, who over 22 years deployed thousands of fine-meshed plankton nets in the area to discover the makeup of the patch. [smartplanet.com]

So now that we have more confirmation that we suck as a species, what can we do about it?

Stop Using Styrofoam

It’s made of petroleum, it’s flammable, and it’s hard to recycle. But if you must use it, here are some tips for trying to reuse or recycle from greenlivingtips.com.

Trade in Your Plastic Bottles for Canteens

For the price of about 18 bottles of water — which is, what, a week’s worth? — you can get yourself a canteen. Sure, they require some effort and maintenance, but what else are you doing with those five-minutes of your life?

Trade in Plastic Bags for Reusable Totes

Disposable bags have always bothered me because  they simply can’t support the weight of my most prized items: beer, wine… oh yeah, milk and orange juice. Say goodbye to double bagging and hello to saving the damned planet.

Give a Hoot, Don’t Pollute

If you’re going to ignore all of the hippy dippy attempts to save the planet, the least you can do is throw your damned trash away. If you put it in a trash can, it’ll have less of a chance of making into the ocean. It also makes it easier for bottle and can collectors who rummage through our trash in order to make a buck from recycling. Give them a break, will ya?