From watersheds to oceans, Plastic is persistent in the environment

The vast majority of marine debris comes from land and migrates through watersheds to the ocean.

A watershed is the accumulation of water which drains from land surface to a single point. Water which drains from our roof to the yard, driveway and street which drains to our local streams is the source of our local watersheds. Local steams join together to make rivers which flow into the ocean. All rivers flow to the ocean. The ocean accumulates everything that we flush through our lives including plastic debris as well as chemicals in use now and those which were banned for their toxicity.

Marine debris consists of remnants of synthesized materials which are found in waterways including streams, rivers, wetlands, estuaries, bays & the ocean. Marine debris can be fatal to wildlife through ingestion and entanglement. When studying wildlife the Great Lakes region, Theo Colborn found patterns in reproductive failures, immune problems, and abnormal behaviors. She connected it all to endocrine disruption. The adults were usually fine; it was their offspring who suffered the consequences. It was an inherited poisoning. Her studies have broadened our understanding on the impacts of plastic in watersheds, and it is the base of our new understanding of the effects of these chemicals on human health.

Ocean
Sylvia Earle thinks of the ocean as the "blue heart of the planet". The ocean supports more species of plants and animals than any other habitat. Natural ocean ecosystems like seagrass meadows, mangrove swamps & salt marshes, play an important role in mitigating climate change.

Unless it has washed up on the shore or has in some other way been removed, every piece of plastic which has entered the ocean is still there.

Through exposure to sun & water, plastic photodegrades, meaning it breaks down into smaller and smaller bits. However, plastic NEVER goes away. It becomes like confetti; “microdebris” which is interspersed with plankton. This microdebris is impossible to clean up because of the vast amount of area across which it is scattered, and due to the fact that if you take out the plastic bits in the sea, you would also take out the plankton. Plankton is important because it produces ½ of the air we breathe as well as capturing ½ of the carbon in the atmosphere.

Solutions
There are few ways we can address plastic pollution at the tail end of its journey. The key is to reduce our over consumption of single use, throw-away plastic in order to stop it at it's source.

Learn more about the impacts on plastic on the environment:
5 Gyres
The Nature Conservancy
Ocean Conservancy
Plastic Pollution Coalition
United Nations Environment Programme