There was a knock at my East Davis door just after dark a few weeks back. I knew we hadn’t ordered a pizza. Standing on the front porch was one of those enthusiastic 20-something-year-olds with a clipboard, trying to convince me the world was going to end if we didn’t do something right away.

He was nothing if not earnest, though it was never clear to me exactly what he wanted me to do besides make a donation to his cause. He may have been paid or he may have been a volunteer. It really makes no difference because it was obvious he’s a True Believer. And even the most ardent activist has to make a living, after all.

He started talking about a “garbage patch twice the size of Texas” floating in the Pacific Ocean. Having written about this very garbage patch last fall — forgive him Father for not reading my stuff — I told him I had heard of this monster of which he spoke.

I asked him if he’d like to come in and do a little googling on our home computer, so he set down his clipboard and we went to work.

Knowing exactly where I was going because I had been down this road before, I led him to the website for Oregon State University, department of oceanography.

And there he discovered — and I rediscovered — a story about an environmentalist named Angelicque White, who happens to be a distinguished professor of oceanography at OSU.

White is one of those who actually has studied this supposedly massive garbage patch and, according to OSU, “participated in one of the few expeditions solely aimed at understanding the abundance of plastic debris and the associated impact of plastic on microbial communities” as part of research sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the Center for Microbial Oceanography, Research and Education.

“There is a lot of plastic trash floating in the Pacific Ocean, but claims that the ‘Great Garbage Patch’ between California and Japan is twice the size of Texas are grossly exaggerated, according to an analysis by an Oregon State University scientist,” the story begins.

“There is no doubt that the amount of plastic in the world’s oceans is troubling, but this kind of exaggeration undermines the credibility of scientists,” White said. “We have data that allow us to make reasonable estimates; we don’t need the hyperbole. The amount of plastic out there isn’t trivial, but using the highest concentrations ever reported by scientists produces a patch that is a small fraction of the state of Texas, not twice the size.”

Added the story, “Studies have shown that if you look at the actual area of the plastic itself, the hypothetically ‘cohesive’ plastic patch is actually less than 1 percent of the geographic size of Texas.”

The hyperbole distresses White, who deals in facts, not fiction.

“One recent claim that the garbage patch is as deep as the Golden Gate Bridge is tall is completely unfounded,” she said.

I don’t know if I convinced my young friend about the size of the garbage patch as I handed him his clipboard, gave him a drink of pure Davis spring water, thanked him for his time and his concern, and sent him on his way. I realize how hard it can be on a young activist when inconvenient facts get in the way of a good argument.

And then, not long after this encounter, as I was reading the newspaper I call home, I came across a story about a woman named Donna Farvard, who is an intern with CalPIRG, the California Public Interest Research Group.

Speaking at a news conference this spring on the UC Davis East Quad, Farvard is quoted as saying: “The problem we’re facing is absolutely enormous. Right now, there’s a giant mass of trash twice the size of Texas floating in the Pacific (Ocean).”

Donna Farvard, meet Professor Angelicque White.

— Reach Bob Dunning at [email protected]

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