plastic bird

 When I was gathering all the plastic off the beach in the Bahamas, I couldn't help but think of the inspiring collection of photographs by Chris Jordan of deceased albatrosses with stomachs teeming with plastic debris. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is an ocean gyre spinning with garbage from land-based sources as well as ship-generated waste. Dead birds with plastic particle-filled bellies are only one effect of this floating mass. With an estimated 100 million tons of accumulating pelagic plastics, I can't imagine what it is doing to the wildlife, ecosystems and even us, the reason for all the pollution. 
Sometimes I feel guilty crafting—am I causing more waste?