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311 City Services Administrative Hearings Animal Care & Control Aviation Budget & Management Buildings Bus. Affairs & Consumer Protection City of Chicago TV Civilian Office of Police Accountability Cultural Affairs & Special Events Emergency Mgmt & Communications Ethics

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CHICAGO (CBS) - Four aldermen have introduced a proposal to ban Chicago restaurants from serving food in styrofoam containers, and to significantly reduce the number of single-use plastics provided by food establishments in the city.

Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd), Ald. Susan Sadlowski Garza (10th), Ald. George Cardenas (12th), and Ald. Matthew Martin (47th) have co-sponsored an ordinance aimed at getting restaurants to provide more utensils, straws, and other foodware that are either recyclable or compostable.

Starting in 2021, food establishments would not be allowed to sell or serve food in polystyrene or styrofoam containers.

Those businesses also would only be allowed to provide disposable foodware like forks and straws, but only if customers request them, and they could not be wrapped in plastic.

Restaurants and other food establishments also would be "encouraged" to provide condiments in large dispensers, rather than in individual disposable packets.

"We would essentially be working to completely reduce the use of single-use plastics like stirrers, plastic straws in restaurants; things that we go to the restaurant, use once, and throw away," Waguespack said.

Customers would be allowed to bring reusable cups into eateries, but businesses could refuse to serve beverages if those cups are damaged, dirty, or not the appropriate size or material.

Also starting Jan. 1, food establishments would have to serve food only on reusable plates, bowls, and the like; although exceptions would be made for items like straws, napkins, and foil wrappers, as long as they are recyclable or compostable.

Waguespack said single-serve plastic foodware ends up in landfills, as litter, or polluting waterways, and does not break down. He said other cities have enacted similar bans, and restaurants have found that using compostable or biodegradable straws, utensils, and other items is just as affordable, or sometimes even cheaper than plastics and styrofoam.

The alderman said it's not just a matter of protecting the environment, but reducing costs for government.

"There's a lot of other countries and a lot of other cities that realize the negative economic impact that single-use plastics have on our budgets; our city budget, where we're spending tens of millions on recycling. We're cleaning up rivers that are full of straws and plastics," he said.

Waguespack said many cities and businesses already are working on coming up with alternatives to single-use plastics.

"Starbucks is working toward using more eco-friendly materials. There's a lot of things out there that are based on soy products, sugar-based products to mix your coffee, or even forks and spoons, things like that," he said.

If the ordinance were approved, the city would provide a list of suppliers that offer disposable foodware that meets the city's requirements.

"I think it's pretty easy. I mean, there are so many businesses out there, startups that are doing this kind of stuff. It's pretty amazing," Waguespack said. "Some are sugar-based, soy-based, bamboo-based; so you're looking at a lot of different products that startup companies are actually putting out there."

Restaurants and food establishments could apply for waivers for up to a year if the city determines no suitable and affordable alternative disposable foodware is available.

Businesses that don't have on-site dishwashing capacity would be able to get full or partial waivers.

Illinois Restaurant Association president and CEO Sam Toia sounded a cautionary note about the proposal.

"The IRA supports restaurants' efforts to voluntarily decrease their environmental footprint in ways that work best for their brands and customers. However, restaurants also face massive legislative and regulatory burdens - such as a higher minimum wage, paid sick leave, and Fair Workweek rules - that result in average profit margins that are already pennies on the dollar. Any proposed regulations on plastics need to consider the additional financial hardships that will be placed on operators and implications for safety and sanitation, customer requests, drive-through areas, medical necessity of plastic food-ware and other considerations. We look forward to being a part of this important conversation," Toia said in a statement.

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Aldermen Seek To Ban Styrofoam Containers, Single-Use Plastic Utensils At Chicago Restaurants

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CHICAGO (CBS) - Four aldermen have introduced a proposal to ban Chicago restaurants from serving food in styrofoam containers, and to significantly reduce the number of single-use plastics provided by food establishments in the city. Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd), Ald. Susan Sadlowski Garza (10th), Ald. George Cardenas (12th), and Ald.

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Chicago aldermen on Wednesday proposed a ban on single-use plastics and Styrofoam containers in an effort to cut down on plastic pollution, especially in area waterways.

The ordinance would require that restaurants and other businesses that sell prepared food use compostable or recyclable containers and allow customers to bring their own cups.

"We want to target these single-use plastics and foam products because we use them for a very short amount of time ... but then they exist in our environment and our community for centuries," said Abe Scarr, state director of Illinois PIRG, one of the organizations that worked on the proposal.

After the plan was introduced, the Illinois Restaurant Association said it's supportive of voluntary efforts to reduce waste, but warned of potential cost impacts on businesses.

"Restaurants face massive legislative and regulatory burdens - such as a higher minimum wage, paid sick leave, and Fair Workweek rules - that result in average profit margins that are already pennies on the dollar," IRA President and CEO Sam Toia said in a statement. "Any proposed regulations on plastics need to consider the additional financial hardships that will be placed on operators and implications for safety and sanitation, customer requests, drive-through areas, medical necessity of plastic food-ware and other considerations."

Scarr said the ordinance already accounts for financial hardship and the needs of customers with disabilities. "Let's not pretend that there are not other costs that we're paying for right now. We pay for this when we pay for our trash pickup. We pay for this through our recycling, and through the failure of our recycling system. We pay for this in the litter that we have to clean up. Ultimately the question is, what do we value? Do we value having a community that is not overrun by plastic pollution?"

And while Scarr acknowledges plastic pollution can't be tackled by an ordinance like this alone, he says it's key to addressing the problem at the source.

"Twenty-two million pounds of plastics are going into the Great Lakes every single year," he said. "We're finding plastic particles in the water we drink and the food we eat. We can't recycle our way out of the problem."

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Anti-Plastic Advocates Defend Cost of Chicago's Proposed Single-Use Ban

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Chicago aldermen on Wednesday proposed a ban on single-use plastics and Styrofoam containers in an effort to cut down on plastic pollution, especially in area waterways. The ordinance would require that restaurants and other businesses that sell prepared food use compostable or recyclable containers and allow customers to bring their own cups.

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Foam to-go boxes could be banned and single-use plastics could be limited at Chicago restaurants under a sweeping ordinance proposed by a top mayoral ally Wednesday to curb "plastic pollution."

The "Plastic-Free Water" ordinance championed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot's Finance Committee Chairman Scott Waguespack (32nd) would give restaurants and carryout joints until Jan. 1, 2021 to stop serving food in the polystyrene containers commonly used by small neighborhood restaurants or for to-go orders. Instead, restaurants must use reusable dishes for dine-in orders and recyclable or compostable containers for to-go food.

Restaurants that aren't able to wash dishes or contract out that work can request a full or partial waiver under the ordinance.

Additionally, restaurants would have to cut back on disposable foodware items like plastic eating utensils by providing them only by request or at a self-service station.

Plastic drinking straws will also be available when specifically requested. That exception was made at the request of Access Living to accommodate customers with disabilities who "need plastic straws to live," the sponsors said.

Customers would also be allowed to bring their own reusable cups when dining. Restaurants could offer reusable cups for dining-in and disposable cups with lids, spill plugs or sleeves for delivery or take-out service.

Jen Walling, president of the Illinois Environmental Council, hailed the proposed ordinance as the "strongest ordinance in the Midwest" and a "mirror" of some of the strongest ordinances in the country.

"We know that the plastic pollution is a problem in communities across Illinois. And our hope as the Illinois Environmental Council is that the city demonstrating leadership on this issue can motivate the state legislature to pass similar legislation protecting the entire state," Walling said.

But Illinois Restaurant Association President Sam Toia argued the ordinance would impose a severe hardship on restaurants already forced to endure a host of increased costs. They include a higher minimum wage, an increased restaurant tax, paid sick leave, a ban on plastic bags that was ultimately replaced by a bag tax, a predictable scheduling ordinance and higher property taxes.

"There's a lot of anxiety out there with these small-business owners. A lot of education and communication needs to go on on both sides to see if we can get to a middle and not kill the quick-service, small restaurants that are the backbone of our 77 neighborhoods," Toia said.

Toia said there is no question the proposed ban would "add to the cost" of running a restaurant and reduce already slim profit margins.

"There are some restaurants out there that buy for the year or six months in advance. What if they have a whole warehouse of straws and plasticware? How do we deal with that? They would have to eat all of that cost?" Toia said.

Leonel Rodriguez, 53, who owns Step Down Café in Pilsen, reacted to the ordinance with minor concern. He said he already replaced some of his plastic cups with biodegradable options because his younger customers requested them, but the proposed changes could be costly.

"It is good for the environment, but it is more expensive for the owner," Rodriguez said.

Gaby Ramirez, a barista in Pilsen, said the ordinance needs more options for people who rely heavily on single-use plastic items.

Alberto Landeros, manager of Casa Indigo in Pilsen, agreed but said his cafe has already cut down on its plastic utensil use. He said the cafe stopped carrying plastic straws, but customers kept requesting them.

"We try to use the least amount of plastic, but it gets hard," Landeros said.

Toia also raised health concerns about allowing customers to use "their own Tupperware and plasticware" to carry the food and beverages they buy.

"What if that glass that you're bringing in, that container you're bringing in is not clean. There's bacteria in that glass. You get a food-borne illness. The restaurant would say, `That wasn't us,'" Toia said.

Walling and Waguespack scoffed at those arguments. They argued there are cost-effective alternatives to foam and plastics and that the trail blazed in other environmentally conscious cities like San Francisco is proof-positive that the restaurant industry can not only adjust but thrive under a similar ban.

Waguespack pointed to Chicago's dismal 9% recycling rate and its costly recycling contracts as evidence of the need to do something more dramatic to reduce landfill costs. He added that many restaurant companies are already looking to reduce their waste.

"We're moving slowly on this. We're not trying to put anybody in a position where it's economically unfeasible to do this," the alderman said.

Lightfoot said Wednesday she doesn't know enough about the proposed ban to comment on it.
Contributing: Jake Wittich

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Restaurants worry about cost of proposed limits on single-use plastics and foam food containers

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Foam to-go boxes could be banned and single-use plastics could be limited at Chicago restaurants under a sweeping ordinance proposed by a top mayoral ally Wednesday to curb "plastic pollution." The "Plastic-Free Water" ordinance championed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot's Finance Committee Chairman Scott Waguespack (32nd) would give restaurants and carryout joints until Jan.

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Meet thE Finalists

From an impressive pool of 291 teams that submitted solutions for the challenge, a total of twenty-four Finalists from around the world are moving forward in the Ocean Plastic Innovation Challenge, a global search for innovative solutions to help tackle the world's single-use plastic problem.

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Meet thE Finalists From an impressive pool of 291 teams that submitted solutions for the challenge, a total of twenty-four Finalists from around the world are moving forward in the Ocean Plastic Innovation Challenge, a global search for innovative solutions to help tackle the world's single-use plastic problem.

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This article was created in partnership with the National Geographic Society.

Converging currents at the surface of the ocean create some of the best places to find life. It's there that tiny plankton hang out-and where plankton float, hungry fish follow.

It's also there that researchers are finding a new, and now ubiquitous, ocean resident- plastic.

"To me it's a little shocking how much is in relatively small samples," says photographer and National Geographic Explorer David Liittschwager. Last July, Liittschwager accompanied scientists sampling waters off the coasts of Hawaii, where currents converge to form slicks full of plankton. Using nets, they scooped 400 cubic meters of surface water into simple five gallon buckets and hauled it back to a lab on Hawaii's Big Island.

In addition to photographing water samples from Hawaii, Liittschwager also studied waters in a lab in Plymouth England. That surface water was collected nearby from buckets towed behind large ships.

Liittschwager spread the water onto trays to photograph the contents up-close. His photos reveal a world in which the movements of plankton and plastic are intertwined. Small larval fish float alongside colorful bits of plastic and fishing twine. Some images are so dense it's difficult to discern what's alive and what isn't.

While the images themselves look like colorful pieces of abstract ocean art, these samples reveal an insidious and growing ocean threat. Microplastic, any piece of plastic that measures smaller than five millimeters, is found in all the world's oceans. It flows through inland rivers, and it reaches the deepest trenches in the ocean. Microplastic is the result of plastic trash being broken down into seemingly invisible plastic particles by wear and UV light.

Scientists are now trying to figure out how microplastics might be harming people and marine life. In 2017, one study revealed anchovies mistake plastic for food, possibly lured in by the scent of algae coating the garbage. As these small fish are consumed by larger fish higher up the food chain, scientists worry they might end up on our plate. A study published last October found microplastic is already present in 90 percent of table salt.

"Plastic is an amazing material," says Liittschwager. "But the idea of making something single-use is preposterous."

He's been moved by images of plastic obscuring natural wonders for the past two decades. In 1994, it was a littered beach in Hawaii, where some shores are on the receiving end of trash from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Ten years later, he was on a remote Hawaiian island with scientists trying to figure out why albatross chicks were dying early. A necropsy of their stomach contents revealed bottle caps and other bits of plastic.

As Liittschwager describes it, his mission is simply to document what's real.

"I' d like people to see what's really there," he says.

David Liittschwager's photography was supported by a grant from the National Geographic Society.

National Geographic is committed to reducing plastics pollution. Learn more about our non-profit activities atnatgeo.org/plastics. This story is part ofPlanet or Plastic?-our multiyear effort to raise awareness about the global plastic waste crisis. Learn what you can do toreduce your own single-use plastics, andtake your pledge.

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Striking photos reveal plastic and plankton side-by-side

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This article was created in partnership with the National Geographic Society. Converging currents at the surface of the ocean create some of the best places to find life. It's there that tiny plankton hang out-and where plankton float, hungry fish follow. It's also there that researchers are finding a new, and now ubiquitous, ocean resident- plastic.

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Sorry, but it looks like your system is not currently supported by EarthTime. At this time, we support systems with WebGL enabled and running recent desktop and mobile browser versions of Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Internet Explorer / Microsoft Edge. If you have questions, please email us at: earthtime@cmucreatelab.org

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Today's students need to understand how the complex and dynamic human and natural systems interact in order to make smart decisions.

The Geo-Inquiry Process relies on using a geographic perspective, offering a unique lens to analyze space, place, and the interconnections between both the human and natural world.

Using both a geographic perspective and the Geo-Inquiry Process students begin to connect complex components, see patterns, and make connections that change their communities.

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Geo-Inquiry Process - Education - National Geographic Society

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The Geo-Inquiry Process relies on using a geographic perspective, offering a unique lens to analyze space, place, and the interconnections between both the human and natural world.

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Thank you for applying to collect contributions! We will review your request and follow up with next steps via email.

Feel free to email us if you have any questions. openexplorer@natgeo.com

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Open Explorer | Mercury & Microplastic Pollution

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San Francisco Bay is swimming with microplastics. A study published in 2016 found that on average, every square kilometer of the Bay contains 700,000 microplastic particles -that's over 12 million tiny pieces of plastic floating in an area the size of a football field. Yikes.

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Plastic Pollution Collection from Nat Geo 

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Plastic Pollution Collection from Nat Geo 

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Plastic is ubiquitous in our everyday lives. Some plastics we can reuse or recycle-and many play important roles in areas like medicine and public safety-but other items, such as straws, are designed for only one use. In fact, more than 40 percent of plastic is used only once before it is thrown away, where it lingers in the environment for a long, long time. It often breaks down into smaller and smaller particles, called microplastics, which can be ingested by both animals and people. Fortunately, there are things we can do to help-like stop using plastic bags, straws, and bottles, recycling when we can, and disposing of waste properly.

Use these classroom resources to teach about ocean plastics and check back for more coming later this year!

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Plastic is ubiquitous in our everyday lives. Some plastics we can reuse or recycle-and many play important roles in areas like medicine and public safety-but other items, such as straws, are designed for only one use. In fact, more than 40 percent of plastic is used only once before it is thrown away, where it lingers in the environment for a long, long time.

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For information on user permissions, please read our Terms of Service. If you have questions about licensing content on this page, please contact ngimagecollection@natgeo.com for more information and to obtain a license. If you have questions about how to cite anything on our website in your project or classroom presentation, please visit our FAQ page.

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For information on user permissions, please read our Terms of Service. If you have questions about licensing content on this page, please contact ngimagecollection@natgeo.com for more information and to obtain a license. If you have questions about how to cite anything on our website in your project or classroom presentation, please visit our FAQ page.

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What happens to Plastic Around the Globe? 

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What happens to Plastic Around the Globe? 

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What Happens to the Plastic We Throw Out

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How a piece of trash can travel from land to Henderson Island, an uninhabited, remote island in the middle of the South Pacific Ocean.

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Tackling the plastic pollution problem

The plastic pollution problem touches all of our lives. We have both responsibility for it and the ability to solve it. Whether you're competing in the GeoChallenge or are interested in cleaning up the world's waters, the resources on this page will help you start investigating plastic pollution.
Use the links below to find:
Tackling Plastic! Resources
Online Events
Explorer Corner

If you are a GeoChallenge coordinator or coach looking for the 2019-20 Tackling Plastic! Program Guide, use the Resources tab in the GeoChallenge Portal, linked here.

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Tackling the plastic pollution problem The plastic pollution problem touches all of our lives. We have both responsibility for it and the ability to solve it. Whether you're competing in the GeoChallenge or are interested in cleaning up the world's waters, the resources on this page will help you start investigating plastic pollution.

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Aw snap! Google Earth isn't supported by your browser yet. Try this link in Chrome instead. If you don't have Chrome installed, download it here.

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This article was created in partnership with the National Geographic Society.

On Saturday, the curators at a natural history museum in Davao City, the Philippines, got a call from the local marine agency: An emaciated-looking whale in the Davao Gulf was vomiting blood, listing badly as it swam, and was very likely going to die shortly. They should come pick up its body.

When Darrell Blatchley, a marine mammal expert and the curator at the D'Bone Collector Museum in Davao City, brought the whale back to the lab to open it up for a necropsy, he found something shocking: more than 88 pounds of plastic waste jammed into its belly.

"Plastic was just bursting out of its stomach," he said. "We pulled out the first bag, then the second. By the time we hit 16 rice sacks-on top of the plastic bags, and the snack bags, and big tangles of nylon ropes, you're like-seriously?"

His son, who was attending the necropsy, said "Dad, how did it even live this long?"

The plastic trash was so densely packed into the dead whale's stomach that it felt as "hard and compacted as a baseball," he said, only many times bigger-more like two dense basketballs of trash, about eight percent of the juvenile beaked whale's total weight. Some of it had been in the stomach so long it had started to calcify.

The curvier beaked whale, a young male about 15 feet long and weighing 1,100 pounds, likely died of starvation and dehydration brought on by the plastic stuffing its belly. Whales absorb water from the food they eat, and there was no sign that any food had made it into its intestines for many days. Its body was destroying itself from the inside: Its stomach acid, unable to break down the plastic waste, had worn holes through its stomach lining instead.

( Read about how the ocean has become a plastic-filled minefield for many marine mammals).

This whale was far from alone

As the plastic pollution crisis grows, more and more dolphins, whales, birds, and fish are found dead with their stomachs full of plastic. In 2015, scientists estimated that around 90 percent of all seabirds have ingested some amount of plastic; UNESCO estimates that 100,000 marine mammals die because of plastic pollution each year.

The cause of death varies. Sometimes, like in this case, plastic blocks food from traveling from stomach to intestine, essentially starving the animal. Other times, sharp edges poke holes in their internal organs.

In most cases, the amount of plastic animals ingest isn't enough to kill them, says Matthew Savoca, a Stanford-based whale expert who also studies plastic pollution. But the effects can cascade, even if only a little bit of plastic lodges in their bellies, taking up valuable space. "If you're eating 10 percent less calories than your neighbor, day after day, that adds up," says Savoca.

"Basically, wherever we're looking for plastics, we're finding them," says Savoca, "Now, we're seeing that even in places humans never even have been close to, we find our trash. And not just that, but animals eating our trash."

The waters around the Philippines are particularly treacherous for many marine animals. The country is one of the most prolific plastic polluters in the world, and many of its waterways are thick with trash.

The country has many laws in place that aim to curb plastic pollution, but enforcement has been light, and the logistics of managing waste disposal across the country's more than 7,000 islands is challenging, and plastic-wrapped items are for sale nearly everywhere.

Blatchley has recovered 61 whales that died in the nearby Davao Gulf. Of those, he estimates that plastics were the cause of death for about 45 of them. The problem is exacerbated, he says, by heavy fishing in the region, which has limited the amount of food available for the whales to eat, making them even more likely to try to eat plastics floating nearby.

"It's just tragic that this is becoming the norm, to expect that these whales will die because of plastic rather than from natural causes," he says. "We're losing them faster than they can evolve to learn not to eat the plastic."

National Geographic is committed to reducing plastics pollution. Learn more about our non-profit activities at natgeo.org/plastics. Learn what you can do to reduce your own single-use plastics, and take your pledge.

The National Geographic Society and Sky Ocean Ventures have launched the Ocean Plastic Innovation Challenge, which asks problem solvers around the globe to develop novel solutions to tackle the world's plastic waste crisis. Have an idea? Submit your solution by June 11 at oceanplastic-challenge.org.

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This whale had more than 88 pounds of plastic in its stomach when it died

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This article was created in partnership with the National Geographic Society. On Saturday, the curators at a natural history museum in Davao City, the Philippines, got a call from the local marine agency: An emaciated-looking whale in the Davao Gulf was vomiting blood, listing badly as it swam, and was very likely going to die shortly.

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1. Have a whole-class discussion about ocean currents.
Display for students the NG Education interactive map with the Ocean Surface Currents data layer selected. Point out the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Ask:

What are the general water movements called? (currents)

What factors do you think affect these movements? (wind; water temperatures)

What is the pattern of currents in the Northern Hemisphere? In the Southern Hemisphere? (The North has primarily clockwise currents; the South has counterclockwise.)

If you were on a cruise ship that sank off the coast of California, in which direction would your lifeboat most likely drift? (south)

If tons of sewage and waste were dumped off the coast of the Mariana Islands, would it more likely reach Alaska or Hawaii? How? (Alaska; by floating along the Kuroshio current)

2. Have students look at the NG Photo Gallery: Polluted Oceans.
View the National Geographic Photo Gallery: Polluted Oceans with students. Invite volunteers to read each caption aloud as you scroll through the gallery. Check to make sure that students understand that ocean currents are the primary way that all of the trash, oil, and other pollutants move around the Earth.

3. Introduce the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
Explain to students that one area of spiraling ocean currents has been nicknamed the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. This area is approximately twice the size of the United States. It accumulates marine debris that gets trapped by the clockwise currents. Go to the CNN article "Woman tackles 'Great Garbage Patch'" and find the interactive map on the page. Have students click on and read about the identified currents (Kuroshio, North Equitorial, and North Pacific) and the patch itself. Make sure students understand that there are many named currents that do not appear on this interactive.

4. Have students research case studies of major ocean pollution events.
Divide students into six small groups. Assign each group one of the notable events listed below. Have groups use the National Geographic and Dr. Curtis Ebbesmeyer websites to find facts about their assigned events and report back to the class.

1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill

1990 Nike shoe spill

1991 arsenic drum spill

1992 rubber bath toy spill

1997 Lego spill

2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill

Extending the Learning

Have students read the page An Oceanographer Studies the Ocean on the NOAA website. Ask:

What topics do oceanographers study? (marine life, ecosystems, ocean circulation, plate tectonics, geology of the sea floor, and chemical and physical properties of the ocean)

What kind of oceanographers study currents? (physical oceanographers)

What kind of oceanographers study the effects of pollutants? (chemical oceanographers and marine chemists)

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1. Have a whole-class discussion about ocean currents. Display for students the NG Education interactive map with the Ocean Surface Currents data layer selected. Point out the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Ask: What are the general water movements called? (currents) What factors do you think affect these movements?

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Laysan albatrosses (Phoebastria immutabilis) are incredible birds. They have a wingspan of more than 6 feet, soaring vast distances without flapping their wings. They can go years without even touching land, live for more than half a century, and will often stick with a single mate for their entire lifespan.

But they have a problem: they are eating plastic dumped in the ocean. This collection of photos, taken by artist Chris Jordan on Midway Atoll, a group of islands in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument, show the decomposing carcasses of Laysan albatross chicks on the islands-and the plastic that will remain there far longer than their bones.

Many birds accidentally eat plastic and other marine debris floating in the ocean, mistaking it for food. But the problem is intensified in Laysan albatrosses because of the way they catch fish, squid and other seafood: by skimming the surface of the water with their beak. Along the way, they accidentally pick up a lot of floating plastic, which they then feed to their chicks. Adults can regurgitate plastic they've swallowed, but chicks are unable to, so it fills up their stomachs.

The effects of plastic on the chicks hasn't been scientifically proven. It's probable that it injures or kills the birds by cutting their stomachs or taking up space, making them feel "full" when they are starving. On Midway Atoll, many albatross chicks are killed by lead poisoning, making it hard to separate the effects of the plastic from that of the lead.

These photos makes a powerful statement about just how far-reaching the impacts of human consumption are, as they affect birds thousands of miles away, isolated in the Pacific Ocean.

You can help: pay attention to how much plastic you throw away-grocery bags, Styrofoam cups, water bottles, packaging-and try to use less. Here are five more simple things you can do for the ocean. And watch the trailer for Chris Jordan's upcoming film about Laysan albatrosses on Midway Atoll.

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Laysan albatrosses (Phoebastria immutabilis ) are incredible birds. They have a wingspan of more than 6 feet, soaring vast distances without flapping their wings. They can go years without even touching land, live for more than half a century, and will often stick with a single mate for their entire lifespan.

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