Pacific Garbage Patch

Image from Greenfudge

In the "things that worry the hell out of me" category is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, also described as the Pacific Trash Vortex.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacific_Garbage_Patch this is "gyre of marine litter in the central North Pacific Ocean located roughly between 135° to 155°W and 35° to 42°N and estimated to be twice the size of Texas." The wikipedia article details the following effect on wildlife

Some of these long-lasting plastics end up in the stomachs of marine birds and animals,[20] including sea turtles, and the Black-footed Albatross.[21] Besides the particles' danger to wildlife, the floating debris can absorb organic pollutants from seawater, including PCBs, DDT, and PAHs.[22] Aside from toxic effects,[23] when ingested, some of these are mistaken by the endocrine system as estradiol, causing hormone disruption in the affected animal.[21] These toxin-containing plastic pieces are also eaten by jellyfish, which are then eaten by larger fish. Many of these fish are then consumed by humans, resulting in their ingestion of toxic chemicals.[24] Marine plastics also facilitate the spread of invasive species that attach to floating plastic in one region and drift long distances to colonize other ecosystems.[13]

At least there are some efforts underway to see if we can fix this:
http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2009/08/05/05greenwire-recyclers-scientists-probe-great-pacific-garba-57979.html

Project Kaisei is at its core a commercial endeavor, funded in part by international recycling companies that see opportunity in a sea of debris thought to be twice the size of Texas.

In addition to funding from individual donors, Project Kaisei is backed by the Bureau of International Recycling, whose membership counts 77 companies from Austria, China, Cuba and Canada, to name just a few of the nations represented. Deutsche Bank AG is also a key funder.

Mary Crowley, co-founder of the project, said examining the dump's potential as recycled material is just as important as studying the decomposed and decomposing plastic, which largely originated in California and Japan before being trapped by currents of the North Pacific Gyre.

Why do we continue to use materials that last for 100,000 years to package products that last less than 1 year?