What Kind of Trash is In the Ocean?
Plastic is what makes up the majority of ocean trash. The most common found item in the ocean are cigarettes/cigarette filters with 2,117,931 of them. The International Coastal Cleanup presents these numbers after the volunteering they do each year with collecting trash from the ocean. The next top three items found in the ocean are food wrappers/containers, plastic beverage bottles, and plastic bags, all with numbers just over one million. A good portion of the items found are items used daily such as utensils and dishes, straws, cans, and paper bags. In addition to common items like those, 236 toothbrushes, 40 lottery tickets, and 117 mattresses were found in the ocean. While items such as mattresses are in the ocean due to natural disasters such as the Japan earthquakes. For some of those cases
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/7303977/New-floating-garbage-patch-found-in-Atlantic-Ocean.html
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Water_Pollution_with_Trash_Disposal_of_Waste_at_the_Garbage_Beach.jpg
http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/translating-uncle-sam/stories/what-is-the-great-pacific-ocean-garbage-patch
http://animalnewyork.com/2009/parting-shot-talking-trash/