POWERFUL VIDEO: Why we need to stop plastic pollution in our oceans for good | Oceana

Our oceans sustain life.

An abundant ocean
can feed a billion people

a healthy meal every day forever.

But now they are being filled, killed

by throwaway plastics.

The equivalent of one
garbage truck of plastic

is dumped in the sea every minute -

17.6 billion pounds every year.

Plastic is everywhere in our ocean -

floating on the surface,

mixing in the saltwater,

and sitting on the ocean bottom
miles and miles deep.

And once in the ocean,

it never goes away.

Over hundreds of years,

it breaks down into small pieces,

but those pieces,

even the tiny ones called micro plastics,

are still plastic.

Sea turtles are choking on them.

Scientists say that over 60% of whale
and dolphin species are affected by it.

it's all plankton, the base
of the ocean food chain eat it

and so, do we?

It's in the water we drink.

It's in our food -

micro plastics have been found
in our salt, our honey, and our beer -

and sometimes even in the air we breathe.

Companies are choosing to make something

that will be used just once,

from a material that lasts forever.

If you don't like what throwaway plastics
are already doing to our world,

brace yourself.

We face a tsunami of throwaway plastic

in our and the ocean's future.

Four times more plastic will be produced

between now and the middle of the century

than has been produced in all of history.

Four times more.

What can we do?

Recycling?

Of all the plastic ever
generated as of 2015,

only 9% was recycled.

Even when it is recycled,

plastic degrades.

Your plastic soda bottle maybe
becomes a shampoo bottle,

then a floor mat,

even in the best case it doesn't recycle

it down cyclists.

And then it becomes pollution

that ruins our beaches
and chokes sea animals forever.

We should not be forced
to pollute the ocean

every time we eat, drink, or go shopping.

We need to be given a choice,

a plastic free choice.

This is not hard to imagine.

Indeed, some responsible companies
are already leading the way.

There are throwaway plastic-free
aisles in supermarkets.

Beverage companies already offer
plastic-free soda and salsa water.

Restaurants offer plastic-free service.

There are plastic-free rooms and hotels

An airline is now offering
a plastic-free flight

And Oceania and our allies are
winning plastic-free victories.

Following campaigning by Oceania,

Peru passed the law

that keeps plastic out
of national parks and beaches.

Belize is getting rid of styrofoam

And the European Union has mandated

reductions for throwaway plastic

throughout its 28 member countries

but with your help,

we can do the work together.

we can create a movement to reduce throw away

plastic

we can make sure we're all given

real plastic free choices

we can help our cities towns schools and workplaces

establish zones that are free of throw away plastic

let's stop plastic pollution from wrecking our beaches and our oceans and

to have healthy oceans that delight the

sustained ease for generations to come

please join our campaign go to Oceana

org slash plastics today