Plastic Pollution - Oceana USA

Plastic Pollution

Tackling the plastics crisis at the source

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Overview

Plastic is everywhere. It’s choking our oceans, melting out of Arctic sea ice, sitting at the deepest point of the seafloor, and raining onto our national parks. It’s in the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat. It’s greatly contributing to the climate crisis and disproportionately polluting communities of color and low-income communities. Enough is enough. Oceana campaigns to stop plastic pollution at the source — by working to pass local, state, and national policies that reduce the production and use of unnecessary single-use plastic and move toward refill and reuse systems.

Two garbage trucks’ worth of plastic

enters the oceans every minute.

The world is facing a plastic pollution crisis that is increasingly threatening the future of our planet. An estimated 33 billion pounds of plastic enter the ocean every year — that’s roughly equivalent to dumping two garbage trucks full of plastic into the oceans every minute.

The problem is too big for consumers to solve. With plastic production rates increasing and industry continually relying on inadequate solutions like plastic recycling, we’re looking at an alarmingly plastic-filled future — unless companies and policy-makers use their power to change course.

We need companies to dramatically reduce their production and use of this persistent pollutant, provide us with plastic-free choices, and develop systems that refill and reuse packaging and materials. Policy-makers must pass legislation to ensure they do so.

Victories

Take Action

Keep Plastics Out of Our National Parks

Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland announced in June 2022 that single-use plastics will be phased out in all national parks over the next 10 years. But the next president could reverse the ban — unless Congress passes legislation, like the Reducing Waste in National Parks Act, to make it permanent.

Tell Congress: Permanently Protect Our National Parks From Plastic

PROTECT OUR OCEANS FROM SINGLE-USE PLASTICS

The United States generates more plastic waste than any other country, greatly contributing to the plastic pollution choking fish, dolphins, sea turtles, whales, and more. The federal Break Free From Plastic Act would reduce both the production and use of single-use plastic in America.

Tell Congress: Save Marine Life From Single-Use Plastic

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Plastics Overview Fact Sheet

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Inadequate Solutions Fact Sheet

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Top 10 Reasons to Reduce Plastic Production

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Plastics FAQ Fact Sheet

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Plastic Production Fact Sheet

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Corporate Solutions Fact Sheet

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Plastics and Human Health Fact Sheet

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Policy Solutions Fact Sheet

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Plastics Overview Fact Sheet (en Español)

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FEATURED CAMPAIGN

Protect North Atlantic Right Whales

Oceana seeks to reduce threats to North Atlantic right whales, including entanglement in fishing gear and collisions with ships.

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CAMPAIGN HIGHLIGHTS

Ending the Shark Fin Trade

Protecting Ocean Habitats

Responsible Fishing

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We have already protected nearly 4 million square miles of ocean and innumerable sea life - but there is still more to be done.

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