It has been said that in the pacific ocean there is a plastic bag island larger than the state of Texas.

But actually, there is no real island of plastic to set up lawn chairs and beach towels. The proper name is the Central Pacific Gyre (East). It spans from the California coast to Japan or approximately 10 million square miles in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

The Algalita Marine Research Foundation, which is in Long Beach, CA, states that the Gyre is caused by clockwise air and water patterns. It can be a very inhospitable and difficult place for a boat to navigate. It is because of these currents that the area, which is now known as “plastic soup,” has accumulated so much trash and plastic.

The founder and research director of the Algalita Foundation, Captain Charles Moore, says that the Gyre is not even the worst “trash island.” The Algalita Foundation, which exists to bring to light marine ecological issues, recently went to the Gyre and discovered an even more troubling “plastic bag island” — the subtropical convergence zone (West). The subtropic convergence zone is the area of the ocean where tropical currents meet colder, arctic ones. This convergence of currents has caused an even larger and more dense trash collection.

More informally these regions are called the East and West Pacific Garbage Patch. Debris floating around the garbage patches consists mainly of fishing gear and plastic waste.

Fishing gear and plastic waste are commonly mistaken for food. Studies have shown turtles and other marine wildlife have been found dead with plastic bottles and other debris in their bodies. Think about it, plastic bags sit in the ocean for years and eventually break down into tiny particles which reach even the smallest species of marine life, say shrimp. When was the last time you ate shrimp, you might as well have been eating plastic.

Waste has more consequences than we realize, as our oceans attest. Despite a rather successful recycling movement there are still 90 billion plastic bags that are thrown away rather than recycled ever year.

But there is a solution: reusable bags! Right now in Seattle, Washington, they are debating a $0.20 plastic bag tax. Its time to take a stand and initiate bands like this. It’s time for the whole world to switch to non-polluting, reusable bags.