Plastic In Our Oceans

Broken down, simply.

Terra Tretter, 2018

An estimated 10 percent of the 260 million tons
of plastic produced each year ends up in the
oceans.
 How long
does trash It can anywhere from a few years to a million years
for trash to break down, and even then, plastics never
take to really decompose—they just break up into
microplastics, tiny bits of plastics that animals often
break consume.

down?
 How long does trash take to break down?

Plastic bottles: 450 years

Glass: 1,000,000 years

Plastic bags: 20 years

Fishing Line: 600 years

Aluminum cans: 80-200 years

 • Approximately 100,000 marine creatures a
year die from plastic entanglement—and these
are only the ones that are found.
• Approximately 1 million sea birds die from
plastic.
Why’s this • Every year, 6.4 million tons are dumped into
the ocean. This is the same as 3,200 trucks
bad? loaded with garbage.
• At least two thirds of the world’s fish stocks are
suffering from plastic ingestion.
• Ocean acidification is a growing problem.
 • In Ireland they introduced a $0.15 plastic bag
tax and reduced their usage by 90% in one
year. California has done something similar.

What is being • The Ocean Cleanup is building artificial

coastlines of nets and vessels to clean the
done? Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
• The Seabin Project is collecting marine debris
in floating trashcans.
 • Stop using plastic bags; use reusable bags
when shopping.
• Recycle whenever possible, or reuse and
repurpose if you can.
• Use natural products—wool or cotton shirts
What can I don’t produce synthetic microfibers that get in
the water during a wash and end in the ocean.
do? Face scrubs that aren’t natural often contain
plastic microbeads.
• Buy a reusable water bottle instead of plastic
bottles. Use reusable straws, containers, or
anything else that you would usually use once
then trash.