The Plastic Problem
Ocean plastic pollution — and the toll it takes on local communities, wildlife, and fragile ecosystems — affects all people in all nations across the planet. The problem of sea plastic is massive, but it is solvable, together.
The facts about plastic pollution are staggering.
The problems facing our oceans:
An estimated 8 million metric tons of plastic trash ends up in our oceans each year.
The ocean currents have formed five gigantic, slow moving whirlpools where the plastic collects, called gyres. Most of the plastic debris sinks or remains in the gyres, however a significant percentage of it washes onto our coastlines daily.
After sunlight photo-degrades the plastic into small pieces, Aquatic life and seabirds mistake these fragments for food and ingest it.
While it is difficult to know exact figures, a recent report indicates that between 57,000 and 135,000 whales are entangled by plastic marine debris every year in addition to the inestimable - but likely millions - of birds, turtles, fish and other species affected by plastic marine debris.
New studies show that ingested plastic damages the internal organs of fish. This raises the question about the safety of our seafood.
Humans are now using a million plastic bottles a minute, and 500 billion plastic bags per year - including those we use to bag up our plastic-laden trash.
Recycling one ton of plastic bottles saves the equivalent energy usage of a two person household for one year.
On average, every person in North America ingests a credit card size worth of plastic/ year
The Lifecycle of Plastic
Of all the plastic ever produced, only about 9% was ever recycled. 12% was incinerated, and 79% ended up in natural environments or landfills.
Awareness & Collection
The majority of the plastic in our oceans is broken into small pieces (1/4 of an inch or smaller) and scattered over massive areas. The center of a Vortex, The plastic concentration is highest is constantly moving. It is difficult to collect and retrieve this plastic without harming fish and other sea life. Only a minority of plastic pollution floats on or near the surface, while the majority sinks to the ocean floor.
While cleaning up the Vortexes, is an insurmountable task, it is an attainable goal to reduce / remove huge volumes of plastic debris that wash up on shorelines, the goal is to collect that plastic and stop it from returning to the ocean.
Awareness campaigns, cleanup operations and recycling initiatives allow us to help alleviate immediate threats to marine wildlife and reduce the use of virgin plastics in product design, manufacturing and distribution.