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✔️ Humans have produced an astonishing 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic since the early 1950s.
✔️ Unfortunately, only about 9% of that waste has been recycled. Another 12% was incinerated, but 79% of it ended up in the landfills.
✔️ In 2015, it was estimated there are about 150 million metric tons of plastic in the ocean. If we continue at the same rate, by 2040 there would be 600 million metric tons.
✔️ In 2010, it was estimated that 8 million tons of plastic ended up in the ocean. To understand this, imagine 5 grocery bags of trash for every foot of coastline around the world. By 2025, it is estimated to double to 10 bags.
✔️ System-wide changes could reduce plastic leakage by about 82% by 2040. Unfortunately, the cost of this is estimated at about $600 billion.
✔️ Approximately 80% of trash in the ocean is from land. People litter and it gets washed into the sea, garbage is improperly handled, or people send tiny plastics down the drain (like the microbeads in some exfoliant products)
✔️ Unfortunately, plastic decomposes far too slowly. It has been estimated that plastic takes over 400 years to decompose.
✔️ As it slowly decomposes over all this time, plastic gives off chemicals that also contaminate the sea.
✔️ Nearly 500 dead zones exist in oceans around the world.
✔️ Approximately 100,000 marina mammals each year lose their lives due to pollution.
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