Plastic is an important invention of the 21st century. It's advantages are that it is inexpensive, lightweight and durable. It is capable of holding solids, liquids and gases. It weighs much less than comparable glass or metal containers. Plastic has numerous uses for example to make bottles, bags and diapers, just to name a few.

However, the advantages of plastic are also its liabilities. It is inexpensive so it is used extensively in place of materials that could be more easily recycled. It is lightweight, often floating to places where it can harm the environment.  It is durable, lasting for up to 1000 years, long after it has served its original purpose.

     How long does it take plastic products to decompose?

      Plastic does not go away, it just breaks down into

                          smaller and smaller pieces of plastic.

As the plastic breaks down into smaller pieces it can be eaten by smaller consumers. Thus, plastic can enter the food chain anywhere from animals as large as whales to those as small as microscopic plankton. We may eat fish, crabs or other animals that have consumed plastic and ourselves become unknowing consumers of plastic. See the next section, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch for more information on how plastic enters the marine food web.

How does pollution get in the ocean?

80% of the trash in the ocean comes from land sources. It is estimated that 60% to 80% of this garbage in the ocean are plastics with a majority of that floating between the surface and 100 feet of depth.

P l a s t i c   P o l l u t i o n   k i l l s:

       1,000,000 Seabirds

                     100,000 Marine Mammals and

                                                        Sea Turtles each year!

         Plastic Bags..."The Harsh Facts" video

This video can be found at YouTube: Plastic Bags..."The Harsh Facts"

It is estimated that in the United States we use 100 billion plastic bags every year. Only 1% to 3% of these are recycled.

Plastic Bottles

Each year in the United States, we use over 33 billion single use disposable plastic bottles. Less than 30% are recycled. That means more than 23 billion plastic bottles go to the landfill or worse, littered onto the landscape.

 

See the Use Less Plastic in the Ways you Can Help section for more ways to reduce your use of plastic.