Plastic pollution is everywhere. But you can help fight it.
Globally, we produce a massive amount of plastic – over 380 million tons every year. When plastic enters the ocean, it impacts us all. It’s in the food and water we consume, it’s harming our animals and marine life, and of course, polluting our beautiful planet.
Photo Credit: Parley.TV
The plastic pollution problem
Virtually every piece of plastic that was ever made still exists in some shape or form. We thought recycling was the answer but it’s not. Less than 9% of all plastic ever produced has been recycled!
Once at sea, plastic waste breaks down into small particles, called microplastics. Microplastics have been found in every corner of the globe, from Mount Everest, the highest peak, to the Mariana Trench, the deepest trough. Plastic never fully biodegrades, it just breaks down into these small, toxic, pieces.
Photo Credit: Parley.TV
The importance of cleaning our oceans and coastlines
While stopping plastic from entering the ocean in the first place is critically important, so is freeing our oceans and coastlines of plastic trash and debris. With over 11 million metric tons of plastic entering our oceans every year, it’s no wonder it causes so much damage.
By removing plastic from all over the world, we’re helping prevent further damage to our immensely important ocean ecosystems and we’re saving marine life and land animals from harm caused by ingesting plastic or through entanglement.
We’d love for Free the Ocean to be out of business because it would mean our oceans and coastlines are free from plastic trash. Unfortunately, that’s the opposite of the truth, so it’s very important to keep up this crucial work!
How you can maximize your impact and remove more plastic
By answering the daily trivia question, you’re helping remove a piece of plastic from the ocean and coastlines every day – for free! The advertising and sponsorship revenue generated from your visits is used to directly support organizations removing plastic from the ocean.
This small action really adds up! As you can see from the tracker at the top of the site, we’ve removed over 33 million pieces of plastic thanks to our community answering the trivia.
If you’d like to maximize your impact and help remove more plastic, consider signing up for a Plastic+ Membership, where you’ll DOUBLE your daily removal of plastic. At $5.00 a month ($0.17 a day), make the most of your impact with Free the Ocean by becoming a Plastic+ Member.
Together, we can be part of the solution to plastic pollution.
