(Describer) Under a round logo of a wave, title: Ocean Today.
In an animation, garbage flies out of a can into water.
Title: Trash Talk.
(woman)
Why is plastic marine debris
so common?
(Describer) Dianna Parker:
We know there's trash
in the ocean.
A lot of it is plastic.
We find plastic everywhere,
from the ocean floor
to surface.
The plastics are all shapes,
sizes, and types.
We find plastics
on beaches,
and also inside
animals' stomachs
or wrapped
around their bodies.
That's bad news for our ocean
and animals in and near it.
It's also bad news for us.
A study from
the University of Georgia
estimated that eight million
metric tons of plastic trash
enters the ocean yearly.
That's like five bags
filled with plastic
on every foot of coastline
in the world.
That's a lot of plastic
in the ocean.
We put it there.
The five
most common items found
during the International
Coastal Cleanup
are plastic cigarette butts,
food wrappers,
plastic beverage bottles,
plastic bottle caps,
and plastic straws
and drink stirrers.
Notice anything in common
with those?
It's a lot of single-use,
disposable plastic.
It goes without saying--
we produce too much waste,
which ends up in the ocean
when we litter
or don't recycle.
Plastic is an important part
of modern life.
We use it for
good things,
but we're responsible
for how much we use every day
and where it goes
when we're done with it.
(Describer) Some floats under people on a dock.
The three "R"s help.
It's up to us to practice them.
Reduce your use
of disposable plastic.
That's anything you use once
and throw away. Use less.
Reuse disposable plastics
when possible.
A plastic bottle makes
a piggy bank or watering can.
The possibilities
are endless.
Recycle what you can
to keep it out of landfills,
where trash can blow away.
Ocean plastic
is a huge problem
that's only getting worse,
unless we change our ways.
We can do better,
for the ocean and for us.
(Describer) Logos are shown for the Smithsonian and NOAA.
Accessibility provided by the US Department of Education.
Accessibility provided by the
U.S. Department of Education.
