An Oceanic Embarrassment

August 2, 2006 By: Marshall Cutchin

We should probably be shocked by the data in this excellent article by Kenneth Weiss of The Los Angeles Times on the plague of plastic in our oceans, but this is simply old news gotten much worse. It’s a tragedy with both international and personal ignorance at its source. “Nearly 90% of floating marine litter is plastic — supple, durable materials such as polyethylene and polypropylene, Styrofoam, nylon and saran. About four-fifths of marine trash comes from land, swept by wind or washed by rain off highways and city streets, down streams and rivers, and out to sea.”