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We develop and scale technologies to rid the oceans of plastic

Our cleaning technologies are deployed around the world as we conduct the largest cleanup in history. For over ten years, The Ocean Cleanup has been researching, extracting, and monitoring plastic pollution in oceans and rivers globally - with millions of kilograms removed to date.

A planet-sized problem

Trillions of pieces of plastic pollute our oceans today, and the problem is worsening. This plastic has a devastating impact on marine wildlife and ecosystems. Plastics can persist for many decades, continuously degrading into microplastics. These can be ingested by wildlife and later enter the human food chain. Plastic pollution is a global crisis requiring urgent action.

We aim to clean up 90% of floating ocean plastic pollution

The Ocean Cleanup is a non-profit organization developing and scaling technologies to rid the oceans of plastic. To achieve this objective, we use a dual strategy: intercepting plastic in rivers to cut the inflow of pollution, and cleaning up what has already accumulated in the ocean and won't go away by itself. When the oceans are clean, we can put ourselves out of business.

The Ocean Cleanup is cleaning up floating plastics caught swirling in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a plastic accumulation zone with over 100,000,000 kilograms of plastic.

Learn more

To clean the oceans, we also need to stop new trash from flowing into them. By tackling 1000 rivers around the world, we can halt 80% of riverine pollution reaching our oceans.

Learn more

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The Ocean Cleanup is a non-profit organization developing advanced technologies to rid the oceans of plastic. We aim to remove 90% of the floating plastic with the help of ocean cleanup systems and river interception technologies.

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Explaining the Interceptor | Cleaning Rivers | The Ocean Cleanup

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NDTV Food Desk | Updated: May 05, 2017 18:26 IST

Plastics can leach chemicals when heated, damaged or used regularly

Exposure to phthalates during pregnancy increases risk of allergic asthma

Phthalates have also been linked to cancer and reproductive issues

The use of plastic and its products has received a lot of flak from health experts. A lot of research and scientific studies have shown that plastics can leach chemicals when they are heated, damaged or used regularly for a very long time. Certain chemicals used to make plastic products like such as bisphenol A (BPA) have also been regarded as carcinogen for humans.A new study suggests that exposure to the toxic chemicals in plastic during pregnancy can impact your child's health.

According to the study, published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, exposure to certain chemicals found in plastic products during pregnancy or even while breast feeding can put the child at the risk of developing allergic asthma.

This risk of asthma has been particularly attributed to a class of chemicals called phthalates that are often used to soften plastic and make it more flexible so that it can be used in different forms. Previous studies have established that thee chemicals can easily enter our bodies through the skin, foodstuffs or the air. They are known to have a damaging effect on the hormone system and can even impact our metabolism and fertility. Not only plastic goods, but phthalates are used in everything from household cleaners to food packaging, cosmetics and personal-care products.(Also read: Home Remedies to Control Asthma Naturally)

According to Tobias Polte, environmental immunologist at Helmholtz University in Germany, this new study shows that phthalates can also interfere with the immune system and significantly increase the risk of developing allergies. For the study, they examined the urine of pregnant women and the influence on the newborn-allergy-risk. Experiments were also conducted on a mouse model to confirm the results during which mice were exposed to a certain phthalate concentration during pregnancy and the lactation period, which led to comparable concentrations of the BBP metabolite in urine to those observed in heavily exposed mothers. As a result, the offspring demonstrated a clear tendency to develop allergic asthma and even the third generation continued to be affected. The results of the urine test showed that there was a strong link between high concentrations of the metabolite of benzylbutylphthalate (BBP) in the mother's urine and the presence of allergic asthma in their children.

The team of researchers further noted that if the foetus was exposed to phthalates during the early stages of development, the effects of the risk of illness was carried forward to the two subsequent generations. In the past few years, researchers have found several health risks associated with the long-term exposure of phthalates like attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, breast cancer, neuro-developmental issues and reproductive risks. A major problem that consumer face is that these chemicals are used in almost of your household and personal care products and they are not mentioned on the label which makes it difficult to avoid them.

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Exposure to Plastic Chemicals During Pregnancy Can Increase Child's Asthma Risk

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NDTV Food Desk | Updated: May 05, 2017 18:26 IST Plastics can leach chemicals when heated, damaged or used regularly Exposure to phthalates during pregnancy increases risk of allergic asthma Phthalates have also been linked to cancer and reproductive issues The use of plastic and its products has received a lot of flak from health experts.

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How Is the plastic recycled?

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Bioplastic is a biodegradable material that come from renewable sources and can be used to reduce the problem of plastic waste that is suffocating the planet and polluting the environment.

Bioplastics are biodegradable materials that come from renewable sources and can be used to reduce the problem of plastic waste that is suffocating the planet and contaminating the environment. Does it make any sense to continue using packaging that can take centuries to disappear to pack products that only last days or months?

Plastic is the third most commonly used petroleum derivative in the world; each year 200 million tons of plastic are consumed on the planet. It comes from a non-renewable source (petroleum), it is contaminating and non-biodegradable (it can take more than 1000 years to decompose).

That is why countries such as Bangladesh have prohibited traditional plastic bags (they jam the sewage pipes and cause flooding), Africa has baptized them as a new 'national flower' because they are so visible all over the landscape and Europe has considered taxing them. In addition, this waste is the cause of the death of marine species and fowl that ingest them (whales, sea turtles, albatross, etc.) and pose a serious environmental problem, such as garbage patches (islands of garbage).

Bioplastic: An alternative to traditional plastic

As an alternative, the use of bioplastics is being promoted, consisting in obtaining natural polymers from agricultural, cellulose or potato and corn starch waste.

These are 100% degradable, equally resistant and versatile, already used in agriculture, textile industry, medicine and, over all, in the container and packaging market, and biopolymers are already becoming popular in cities throughout Europe and the United States for ecological reasons: they are known as PHA.

This product is expected to cover the needs of 10% of the European plastics market within 10 years.

PHA as bioplastic

These are polyesters produced by fermenting raw vegetable materials with a series of bacterial strains. For example, PHAs can be used for injection molding to build automobile parts and for many other uses. Specifically, PHA (polyhydroxyalkanoate) is extracted from bacteria such as pseudomonas. In its natural form, it is similar to transparent kitchen film, with the difference that it is an authentic bioplastic.

Advantages of bioplastics:

They reduce carbon footprint

They providing energy savings in production

They do not involve the consumption of non-renewable raw materials

Their production reduces non-biodegradable waste that contaminates the environment

They do not contain additives that are harmful to health, such as phthalates or bisphenol A

They do not change the flavor or scent of the food contained

Uses of bioplastics:
* DID YOU KNOW ... Not all 'bioplastics' are degradable: should only be called bioplastics those born from renewable biological sources, and they are biodegradable. Never petroleum. Neither should be considered as such those obtained by GMOs.
It is expanding its use in various sectors: medical (prostheses, sutures ...) in food (catering products, disposable containers ...), toys, and even in the world of fashion (Versace has a clothing line Ingeo, made ​​from corn) and, of course, biodegradable bags.

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Bioplastic is a biodegradable material that come from renewable sources and can be used to reduce the problem of plastic waste that is suffocating the planet and polluting the environment. Bioplastics are biodegradable materials that come from renewable sources and can be used to reduce the problem of plastic waste that is suffocating the planet and contaminating the environment.

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CARL SMITH: Come to a place like this, and you'll see loads and loads of rubbish.

But it could be the trash you haven't seen that's causing the biggest problems. Those little bright flecks you can see down there called micro plastic. And researchers say this miniature rubbish is causing some major problems.

Micro plastics can form when bigger bits of plastic break down into smaller bits. They can even break off our clothes when we wash them. But some companies actually make them too. You probably have some micro beads at home right now in your scrubs or shampoos.

In fact, scientists reckon there are about 300,000 of them in the average bottle face scrub.

300,000 In a bottle?

Yup, and even some toothpastes have plastic micro beads in them, too.

Scientists say these micro plastics are becoming a really big issue, especially in our oceans.

DR. MARK BROWNE: It is a huge problem. So if you look at the amount of plastic in the environment, over 85% of that is micro plastic.

SMITH: In case you missed that, he said 85% of plastic in our environment is tiny bits of micro plastic. That's really bad news, especially for marine animals because those little flecks look a lot like food to them.

Just imagine sitting down for lunch and munching away, only to realize a bunch of what you're eating isn't really food. It's the same color, the same size, and it looks a whole lot like the regular food you might eat, but it's actually plastic.

That's basically what's happening to creatures that see micro plastic floating around in our oceans. That plastic can get stuck in this stomach, making it harder for them to digest food.

Another big problem is that plastic often has dangerous chemicals in it, and they can seep into the animal's body. This not only causes issues for them, but it can also be a real danger for the animals that eat them, including humans.

Unlike other rubbish, micro plastic is just too small to get filtered out in water treatment plants like this. So that means they just end up floating straight out to sea.

So, many people reckon the best way to stop them is just to get rid of them altogether. And in the US, that's exactly what they've decided to do.

CONTESSA BREWER: President Obama signed a bipartisan bill to phase out micro beads.

SMITH: Here in Australia, our two major supermarkets say they won't stock any products with micro beads past the end of 2017. And the government and scientists are looking for ways to tackle the problem too.

But for those who still like the idea of having little beads like these to wash your face with, many cosmetics companies are now looking at natural biodegradable solutions, things like seeds and other small bits of rough material.

There's still a long way to go, but the fight against this almost invisible enemy has well and truly begun.

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microbead pollution: effect on marine life

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CARL SMITH: Come to a place like this, and you'll see loads and loads of rubbish. But it could be the trash you haven't seen that's causing the biggest problems. Those little bright flecks you can see down there called micro plastic.

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LAUREN WOLF: Oh, hey, there. Sorry, I was just confirming that these products contain microbeads. Turns out, face scrubs like this one and toothpaste like this get their scrubbing powers from tiny bits of plastic. Yep, plastic. Why am I little nervous about that, and how can you figure out whether they're in your toiletries? The answer-- coming up.

Hey, everyone. Lauren here. There's been a lot of hubbub as of late surrounding microbeads. Companies have been putting these polyethylene spheres into personal care products for a while now. The problem is, once you've scrubbed your face or teeth with them, they go right down the drain. And wastewater treatment plants aren't designed to filter out the tiny balls, which are less than a millimeter in diameter. So the plastic bits are making their way into rivers and lakes.

We know this partially thanks to Sherri Mason, an environmental chemist at the State University of New York in Fredonia. In 2011 Mason was sailing the waters of Lake Erie for a class trip when she got to thinking about plastics in the ocean. Mason wondered whether there were plastic debris in the fresh water Great Lakes, too. So the next year she and her team went out looking. Turns out 80% of the pieces of plastic they pulled from the water were these tiny particles.

After some detective work, Mason and colleagues connected the perfectly spherical colored beads they found to products like these. Why might that be a cause for concern? Well, scientists have evidence that pollutants, such as polychlorinated biphenyls, concentrate on the surface of these beads. And these beads are getting eaten by fish. Not only that, but earlier this year a dental hygienist named Trish Walravenan blogged about how she's been seeing microbeads stuck in people's gums.

No one knows exactly how bad these beads might be for people's gums or for animals in the food chain, but some folks are beginning to take action. For example, Procter & Gamble, which makes Crest toothpaste, vowed to phase microbeads out of its products entirely by March 2016. The state of Illinois has outlawed the tiny bits, although its ban doesn't take effect completely until 2019. In the meantime, if you decide you don't want microbeads in your gums or running down your drain, you can review your toiletries. Just look for polyethylene in the ingredients list.

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LAUREN WOLF: Oh, hey, there. Sorry, I was just confirming that these products contain microbeads. Turns out, face scrubs like this one and toothpaste like this get their scrubbing powers from tiny bits of plastic. Yep, plastic. Why am I little nervous about that, and how can you figure out whether they're in your toiletries?

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In many ways, plastic is the perfect material. We can make it strong and rigid enough to build space ships and replace bones, or thin and flexible enough to make shopping bags that weigh as much as a nickel but carry up to eight kilograms. And unlike other materials, plastic doesn't rust or rot. It can last for centuries, even when we only need it to last a few seconds.

We make tons of plastic precisely because it's cheap, durable, and yet expendable. But the features of plastic that make it so useful to us have also transformed life in the oceans, where as much as 10% of our discarded plastic-- millions of tons per year-- ends up. Big pieces of plastic are definitely bad news for marine animals like whales, albatross, and sea turtles, which risk getting tangled in the debris or ingesting large pieces of it. Yet despite the publicity about huge garbage patches in the sea, most of the ocean's plastic isn't big. Our castaway shopping bags and soda bottles get weakened by sunlight and torn apart in the wind and the waves into little bits of plastic confetti.

On the micro scale, though, it's still super durable. The microorganisms that decompose ripped-up bits of wood and seaweed down into simpler organic compounds can't easily digest plastic. So while the plastic confetti gets broken into smaller pieces, it doesn't go away. It just spreads out over time. Which is why we've found micro plastics pretty much everywhere in the oceans, from the Arctic to the Antarctic and from the sea floor to the surface.

Unlike the easy-to-observe impacts of large plastic trash, the effects of micro plastics are as subtle and difficult to trace as the fragments themselves. The durable fragments can serve as new real estate on which small ocean creatures grow and multiply, or choke slightly larger ocean creatures that think the plastics are food, or attract and collect toxic chemicals, which become introduced into the food chain if the particles are eaten, and probably a million other problems we haven't noticed yet because we've only recently started paying attention to all these micro plastics in the oceans.

But it's undeniable how much plastic trash we've introduced into marine ecosystems. And the wonderful durability of the plastic guarantees it'll be an issue for years to come. It's possible we can decrease further impact by switching to biodegradable plastics, dumping less plastic in the oceans, or cleaning up the patches of sea most strewn with plastic. But until we do, the question is will the oceans be plastic enough to deal with our favorite material?

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Learn about microplastic and its harmful effect on marine animals

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In many ways, plastic is the perfect material. We can make it strong and rigid enough to build space ships and replace bones, or thin and flexible enough to make shopping bags that weigh as much as a nickel but carry up to eight kilograms. And unlike other materials, plastic doesn't rust or rot.

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marine debris National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/Department of Commerce

Where does marine debris come from?

Marine debris comes from many different sources and enters the ocean in many ways.

Intentional littering and dumping are a big cause of marine debris.

Sometimes the trash goes directly into the ocean, like when beachgoers don't pick up after themselves.

Or sometimes, marine debris is indirectly generated in a city hundreds of miles from the ocean.

When someone litters on the street or parking lot, rainwater can move the trash into storm drains that empty into streams, rivers, and other bodies of water.

Or, the wind can blow it there. Those rivers and streams can eventually carry the trash to the ocean.

Improper or careless waste disposal is another big cause.

Have you ever seen an overflowing trash can, but for some reason, people keep putting trash there? Hello, marine debris!

Or someone throws a piece of plastic in the trash, when it should have been recycled?

Around the world, many people don't have access to proper waste disposal or recycling - but the trash keeps piling up, and it has to go somewhere.

It's not just here on land - marine debris comes from activities out on the water, too.

People on boats sometimes throw their trash overboard, and that's against the law. Or, trash can accidentally fall, blow, or wash off of vessels into the water.

Sometimes fishers lose their fishing gear thanks to storms or passing vessels, too.

Once the debris gets to the ocean, it is very difficult to trace the exact source.

The bottom line is, marine debris comes from us. Humans are the source, and every single person has the power - and the responsibility - to prevent it.

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Where does marine debris come from? Marine debris comes from many different sources and enters the ocean in many ways. Intentional littering and dumping are a big cause of marine debris. Sometimes the trash goes directly into the ocean, like when beachgoers don't pick up after themselves.

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The world that we live in is not safe and nice anymore. Because of human kind's selfish desires and unlimited wants, we all have collectively destroyed our mother nature and though most of never give it a thought, environmental pollution has become the number one killer in the world at the moment.

Because of the oil, we spill in waterways, papers we dump on the floor and polythene that we throw everywhere, a lot of innocent animals are risking their lives I'm sure that there will soon come a day that we will have to pay for the oxygen that we breathe.

The way how people dump all their dirt everywhere and sit comfortably inside their air-conditioned homes is really disgusting because none of us ever think about anything other than our own comfort and satisfaction. We don't feel the consequence of environmental pollution because it's not us that suffer from not having clean water to drink. It is not our home that was cut down and it is not us who have to feed our kids with dirt!

It was revealed that 1 million seabirds and 100 million mammals are killed by pollution and if we ignore this issue anymore, surely we all have to suffer like nothing in the near future. All the rainforests and glaciers will disappear and so will all the animals in the world. Inhuman mankind will only feel the consequences at that point, but then we will be too late even to save our own lives.

These pictures below will show the reality of the world around us! Have a look and decide for yourself what you need to do and what you can do to prevent this disaster. ( H/T)
A cotton bud inside a jellyfish A Sea Lion eating a plastic bottle Fish trapped inside a plastic glove Sea Lions trapped in plastics Bird trapped to death because of a razor Trapped Sea Turtle The crab lives in an old bottle Birds neck and beak trapped in plastic Trapped in plastic, this turtle's waist couldn't grow Seal trapped in a plastic bag Bird trapped to death Sea turtle eating plastic Shark in a polluted sea Trapped Duck Seal trapped in a fishing net Sea turtle trapped in a fishing net
This is the high time for you to take a right decision!

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You Will Want To Recycle Everything After Seeing These Photos!

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The world that we live in is not safe and nice anymore. Because of human kind's selfish desires and unlimited wants, we all have collectively destroyed our mother nature and though most of never give it a thought, environmental pollution has become the number one killer in the world at the moment.

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Pollutants are dumped into the ocean. This waste affects the daily life of fish and other marine creatures.

stockphoto-graf/shutterstock

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Encyclopedic Entry Vocabulary

Marine pollution is a growing problem in today's world. Our ocean is being flooded with two main types of pollution: chemicals and trash.

Chemical contamination, or nutrient pollution, is concerning for health, environmental, and economic reasons. This type of pollution occurs when human activities, notably the use of fertilizer on farms, lead to the runoff of chemicals into waterways that ultimately flow into the ocean. The increased concentration of chemicals, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, in the coastal ocean promotes the growth of algal blooms, which can be toxic to wildlife and harmful to humans. The negative effects on health and the environment caused by algal blooms hurt local fishing and tourism industries.

Marine trash encompasses all manufactured products-most of them plastic-that end up in the ocean. Littering, storm winds, and poor waste management all contribute to the accumulation of this debris, 80 percent of which comes from sources on land. Common types of marine debris include various plastic items like shopping bags and beverage bottles, along with cigarette butts, bottle caps, food wrappers, and fishing gear. Plastic waste is particularly problematic as a pollutant because it is so long-lasting. Plastic items can take hundreds of years to decompose.

This trash poses dangers to both humans and animals. Fish become tangled and injured in the debris, and some animals mistake items like plastic bags for food and eat them. Small organisms feed on tiny bits of broken-down plastic, called microplastic, and absorb the chemicals from the plastic into their tissues. Microplastics are less than five millimeters (0.2 inches) in diameter and have been detected in a range of marine species, including plankton and whales. When small organisms that consume microplastics are eaten by larger animals, the toxic chemicals then become part of their tissues. In this way, the microplastic pollution migrates up the food chain, eventually becoming part of the food that humans eat.

Solutions for marine pollution include prevention and cleanup. Disposable and single-use plastic is abundantly used in today's society, from shopping bags to shipping packaging to plastic bottles. Changing society's approach to plastic use will be a long and economically challenging process. Cleanup, in contrast, may be impossible for some items. Many types of debris (including some plastics) do not float, so they are lost deep in the ocean. Plastics that do float tend to collect in large "patches" in ocean gyres. The Pacific Garbage Patch is one example of such a collection, with plastics and microplastics floating on and below the surface of swirling ocean currents between California and Hawaii in an area of about 1.6 million square kilometers (617,763 square miles), although its size is not fixed. These patches are less like islands of trash and, as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says, more like flecks of microplastic pepper swirling around an ocean soup. Even some promising solutions are inadequate for combating marine pollution. So-called "biodegradable" plastics often break down only at temperatures higher than will ever be reached in the ocean.

Nonetheless, many countries are taking action. According to a 2018 report from the United Nations, more than sixty countries have enacted regulations to limit or ban the use of disposable plastic items.

group of organisms linked in order of the food they eat, from producers to consumers, and from prey, predators, scavengers, and decomposers.

substance an organism needs for energy, growth, and life.

overflow of fluid from a farm or industrial factory.

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Director

Tyson Brown, National Geographic Society

Author

National Geographic Society

Program Specialists

Sarah Appleton, National Geographic Society
Margot Willis, National Geographic Society

Producer

Andre Gabrielli, National Geographic Society

Production Managers

Gina Borgia, National Geographic Society
Jeanna Sullivan, National Geographic Society

Last Updated

July 3, 2019

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Director

Tyson Brown, National Geographic Society

Author

National Geographic Society

Program Specialists

Sarah Appleton, National Geographic Society
Margot Willis, National Geographic Society

Producer

Andre Gabrielli, National Geographic Society

Production Managers

Gina Borgia, National Geographic Society
Jeanna Sullivan, National Geographic Society

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Marine pollution is a combination of chemicals and trash, most of which comes from land sources and is washed or blown into the ocean. This pollution results in damage to the environment, to the health of all organisms, and to economic structures worldwide.

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Does Plastic Harm the Environment? | Don't Memorise