For more than half a century, the use of plastics has rapidly outpaced our ability to properly dispose of what are mostly one-time-use plastics such as water bottles, straws, and lighters. Plastics take hundreds of years to break apart and much, much longer to completely degrade. Off the California coast lurks the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a mass of plastic debris twice the size of Texas. The seawater and marine life exposed to plastic pollution truly have no boundaries.

There are many simple solutions that everyone can do to help stem the tide of this plastic pollution epidemic. Please come and learn more about plastics and how they affect the environment, wildlife, and you.

This presentation is part of the Marine Debris Outreach Program sponsored by the Surfrider Foundation with the help of a grant from NOAA.