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Chapter One

weight of 86 nuclear aircraft carriers or 4.4 million cars. There were
approximately 165 million tons (150 million metric tons) of plastic
waste (including tiny fragments called microplastics) in the oceans
by 2020. A study by the World Wildlife Fund estimates that plastic
pollution could show a twofold increase in less than ten years.
“If business continues as usual,” the report states, “by 2030 the
plastic system is expected to double the amount [of] plastic pollu-
tion on the planet, with oceans the most visibly affected. Although
existing initiatives to combat plastic pollution are in place in many
regions, they are not enough.” Another study by the British charity
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the Ellen MacArthur Foundation predicts that by 2050 there could
be more plastic, by weight, than fi sh in the oceans.
Plastic has become such an es-
sential part of modern life that it is IMPACT FACTS
no surprise its use is increasing. The The Great Paci c Garbage
fi rst true plastic, called Bakelite after Patch weighs 87,000 tons
its creator, Leo Baekeland, was in- (78,925 metric tons)—
vented in 1907. By the 1950s, when more than forty-three
large-scale plastic production be- thousand automobiles.
gan, millions of products were being —Public Broadcasting Service
made from this versatile material. To-
day one of the most common types
of plastic products, and one of the most harmful to the environ-
ment, is the plastic bags available at almost any grocery store.
“The average American family takes home almost 1,500 plastic
shopping bags a year,” says Eric A. Goldstein of the nonprofi t Nat-
ural Resources Defense Council, “clogging our cabinets, kitchen
drawers and landfi lls. They’re hanging from trees, and littering our
beaches.” While statistics vary widely, as many as 5 trillion plastic
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bags are used worldwide every year. The average amount of time
a plastic bag is used is twelve minutes, while carrying purchases
from store to home. After that, the bags are usually discarded;
only 1 percent of all plastic bags are recycled.
Since 1988 plastic items have included a recycling symbol
and a number that indicates the type of plastic in that item. The

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