It took an hour for the hydrofoil to navigate the carefully-marked buoys and come to a stop at one of the designated dumping zones.
“Class? Grab your Pads and your buckets and come up here! We’ve arrived!”
The fifteen members of Mrs. Stenson’s 4th grade class filed up to the deck, shielding themselves from the Sun. They grouped together in small social circles, pointing this way and that at various attractions surrounding the vessel.
“Look! That’s polymer-coral!” On of the little girls exclaimed, pointing her Learn-Pad toward a red organism with a series of delicate branches sticking out from the surf.
Another group of kids were pointing their Pads at the water, trying to find the highest plastic density possible.
Still another group was taking photos of an old mesh net that was floating nearby. It was crawling with a veritable zoo of aquatic organisms.
After letting the class take in the sights for a minute or two, Mrs. Stenson drew the kids in.
“Okay class, who can tell me where we are?”
A couple of the class clowns piped up with “A boat!” or “The ocean!”, but most gave the correct answer of “The Pacific Plastic Patch.”
“Very good!” Mrs. Stenson gave a warm smile toward those who were taking the trip seriously. “Now, show of hands please, who knows the history of the Patch?”
Most hands shot up, and Mrs. Stenson called upon a young boy named Quarius.
“Back in the twentieth century there were a lot of things made of plastic, and when they threw those things away they’d sometimes wind up in the sea…” His voice got quiet and he trailed off.
“Don’t be so shy! You got it exactly right!” She congratulated. Quarius gave a reserved grin. She turned back to the rest of the class. “Now, who can tell us what happened next?”
More hands. This time she called upon a girl named Shelby.
“The Plastic Patch grew and grew, and soon animals moved in and evolved to live there. But people thought it was bad, so they stopped putting plastic in it.”
Mrs. Stenson nodded. “Yes, for better or worse, human activity created a very new, very unique environment that soon became a rich biome unto its own right. Does anyone know what happened next?”
This time a small girl named Vera answered. “People stopped creating plastic.”
“Yes, microplastics were rightly identified as a biotoxin in the food chain, so over the course of the 21st century, their use in products was greatly diminished. This helped reduce plastics in people’s diets, but it also negatively impacted the Plastic Patch.”
The students looked sadly out into the water. In order to lift the mood, Mrs. Stenson smiled. “But that’s where we come in! Do you have your buckets?” She asked, raising a 1-gallon metal bucket. The students raised theirs in turn.
“Okay, carefully take your lids off.”
The students did as instructed, marveling at the chunks of plastic inside. “They’re so colorful!” One exclaimed. Another gasped “Wow! It feels so strange!”
Mrs. Stenson allowed them a moment of wonder, then snapped her fingers and took a place beside the edge of the boat. “Alright, form a line! One at a time, we’re going to dump our buckets and feed the Plastic Patch.”
The children quickly rushed forward, fighting for a good spot in line. Once the chaos had settled, Mrs. Stenson instructed the first student to dump her bucket, which he did. The next child did the same, as did the next. And so on…
Once the buckets had been dumped and photos had been taken and the hydrofoil was on its way back to mainland, one of the students slowly approached Mrs. Stenson.
“What is it, Andy?” She asked.
He looked concerned. “Well, we didn’t have much plastic. Will our buckets be enough?”
Mrs. Stenson felt she could be honest with him, given his thirst for knowledge.
“Sadly, it’s not.” She said. “Even with world governments dumping tons of plastic here every year, unless something is done soon, a number of rare species dependent on the Plastic Patch might go extinct.”
“Oh.” He looked upset.
“But don’t worry! As more people learn about it, they’ll do what they can to contribute to the environment. Who knows, maybe in the future you’ll be the one who creates a way to fill the ocean with plastic.”
The boy seemed to accept this fantasy with a smile. “Yeah.” He said. “That’s what I’m gonna do!”