Each year, 11 million metric tons of plastics enter our ocean from land-based sources. That’s disgusting! And it adds up to being more than a garbage truck’s worth of plastic every single minute.
To tackle the ocean plastics crisis, we need to make less plastic. Ocean Conservancy has charted a course to plastic-free beaches by calling for source-reduction policies for the most common items polluting our shorelines and waterways around the world.
Based on nearly 40 years of data from our International Coastal Cleanup®, items such as cigarette butt filters, bags, foam foodware, plastic utensils and straws are some of the most common and harmful types of plastics found on beaches worldwide. By eliminating these items, we can cut roughly 1.4 million tons of plastics annually in the United States alone—that is equivalent to the weight of four Empire State buildings!
Act now and help turn the tide on the plastic pollution crisis.