On Henderson Island, a small island in the middle of the South Pacific that has never been inhabited by people, a purple hermit crab uses an Avon cosmetic bottle in lieu of a seashell. Photo: Jennifer Lavers

By Melia Robinson
22 April 2018
(Busniess Insider) – A small island smack in the middle of the South Pacific has never been inhabited by people — and yet, its white sand beaches are home to more than 37 million pieces of junk.Every day on Henderson Island — one of the most remote places on Earth — trash from every continent except Antarctica washes up its shores. Fishing nets and floats, water bottles, and plastics break into small particles against the rocks and sand.In 2015, Jennifer Lavers, a researcher at the University of Tasmania, traveled to Henderson in an effort to document the extent of plastics pollution. Her research paper has since gone viral.Lavers shared images from her trip with us. […]Lavers’ team counted 53,000 pieces of human-made debris. By their calculations, Henderson’s 14 square miles contains more than 37 million pieces of trash.According to The Atlantic, Henderson Island might have the highest density of plastic debris reported anywhere in the world. Lavers estimates at least 3,750 new pieces of litter wash up daily. [more]

Alarming photos of the uninhabited island that’s home to 37 million pieces of trash