Microplastics entering the human body via direct exposures through ingestion or inhalation can lead to an array of health impacts, including inflammation, genotoxicity, oxidative stress, apoptosis, and necrosis, which are linked to an array of negative health outcomes including cancer, cardiovascular diseases.

Most of this rubbish ends up in dumpsites or in landfills. When organic waste decomposes, carbon dioxide and methane gas is created. Thus, rubbish sent to a dumpsite or landfill represents a significant amount of greenhouse gases already emitted to the atmosphere and have contributed to climate change.

Sign our petition to protect marine wildlife from deadly plastic pollution. Plastics pollution has a direct and deadly effect on wildlife. Thousands of seabirds and sea turtles, seals and other marine mammals are killed each year after ingesting plastic or getting entangled in it.

Plastic affects human health. Toxic chemicals leach out of plastic and are found in the blood and tissue of nearly all of us. Exposure to them is linked to cancers, birth defects, impaired immunity, endocrine disruption and other ailments.

Why do we need to reduce plastic waste? Recycling plastic not only requires large amounts of energy but also uses large quantities of water. While getting rid of plastic waste is the primary environmental problem, the production process is a leading cause of carbon emissions contributing to global warming.

TIPS FOR REDUCING YOUR PLASTICS CONSUMPTION

1. Avoid single-use plastics such as drinking straws.
2. If you go shopping, remember to take a cloth bag.
3. Recycle chewing gum… it’s also make of plastic!
4. Buy more bulk food and fewer packaged products.
5. Replace plastic Tupperware for glass or steel containers.

Tips to Use Less Plastic

1. Stop using plastic straws, even in restaurants.
2. Use a reusable produce bag.
3. Give up gum.
4. Buy boxes instead of bottles.
5. Purchase food, like cereal, pasta, and rice from bulk bins and fill a reusable bag or container.
6. Reuse containers for storing leftovers or shopping in bulk.

Read this story and more in the June 2018 issue of National Geographic magazine.

• In a world that can seem overwhelmed by potentially eternal plastic waste, are biodegradables the ultimate solution?
• Give up plastic bags.
• Skip straws.
• Pass up plastic bottles.
• Avoid plastic packaging.
• Recycle what you can.
• Don’t litter.

1960s

Plastic’s devastating effect on marine mammals was first observed in the late 1970s, when scientists from the National Marine Mammal Laboratory concluded that plastic entanglement was killing up to 40,000 seals a year.

Rainwater and wind carries plastic waste into streams and rivers, and through drains. Drains lead to the ocean! Careless and improper waste disposal is also a big contributor – illegal dumping of waste adds greatly to the plastic surge in our seas.