THE SAD THING. Plastic left on the grounds as litter often blows into
creeks and rivers, eventually ending up in the ocean. A sadder thing is
that it can stay in the ocean forever.
Trash carried to sea by major rivers, which act as conveyor belts,
picking up more and more trash as they move downstream. Once at
sea, much of the plastic trash remains in coastal waters. But once
caught up in ocean currents, it can be transported around the world.
The problem is that most of us use and then toss away more plastic
than we need: things like grocery bags, drink bottles, straws, food
wrappers and plastic packaging around toys. This kind of plastic that
is used only once before being thrown away is called SINGLE-USE
PLASTIC.
The conveniences plastic offer, however, led to a throw-away culture
that reveals the material’s dark side: today, SINGLE-USE PLASTIC
account for 40 percent of the plastic produced every year.