Is there really a patch of garbage twice the size of Texas floating in the Pacific? Yes!

When I first heard that there was a patch of garbage floating in the Pacific Ocean that is twice the size of Texas, I immediately (as I'm sure you would too) went to my computer and Googled it and sure enough, it's true. It is the largest landfill in the world and it is filled with millions of pounds of garbage, most of which is plastic. Obviously, the garbage presents a very dangerous hazard to marine life, but the fact that over 90% of this garbage is plastic makes the situation even worse because when plastic is digested, it is extremely poisonous to marine life and plastic doesn't biodegrade. According to the United Nations environmental program, every square mile of ocean hosts 46,000 pieces of floating plastic and about 10% of the plastic produced in the world each year ends up in the worlds oceans.
But back to the garbage patch. The reason for the collection of all of this debre into one patch is due to ocean currents that keep the garbage pushed together. It was discovered in 1997 by ocean researcher Charles Moore and sicne then has received massive public attention. It is estimated that 80% of the garbage comes from land-based sources and the remaining 20% from ships.
The question remains, is there any cleanup efforts currently in progress? The answer is no, however there are several different organizations planning out methods to begin a massive cleanup of this garbage patch.