Nonprofit Fishes Plastic Out Of Pacific Ocean

A non-profit organization is going on some unusual fishing expeditions to remove as much trash as possible from the sea.

The sailing ship Kwai recently returned from it's most recent voyage to the North Pacific, its catch? Plastic.

Mary Crowley, founder and executive director of the Ocean Voyages Institute, said the amount of plastic in the ocean is quite scary.

"It's a very sad, eerie feeling to be in the middle of the ocean and to see our own garbage floating out there," Crowley said.

Halfway between the Hawaiian Islands and the coasts of California, the leviathan of litter sits and stirs. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch covers an area of about he size of Alaska.

The floating mess of debris contains more than 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic, enough to split 250 pieces of debris between every human on earth.

"Plastics that are made to last for 50 to 100, 200 years are not things that belong in our oceans," Crowley said.

After a 45-day trip, the Kwai pulled 96 tons of waste out of the sea.

Crowley said the institute plans to recycle most if not all of the trash, turning it into everything from building blocks , insulation, furniture and even energy.

"We've worked with H-Power in Hawaii, where they use it to power homes," Crowley said. "We've turned it into fuel."

The Kwai's captain, Locky MacLean, said this trash pile will continue to grow and grow unless humans change their habits and consumption of single-use plastics.