It may seem like a trivial thing, but those "free" plastic bags we get at the grocers, department stores and restaurants are actually contributing to a world wide pandemic of plastics waste. Only 1-4% of the 19 billion plastic grocery and merchandise bags used annually in the State of California are recycled. That means that nearly 600 bags per second are discarded in California--destined either for the landfill or our marine environment. Learn more about what you can do to help stop one of the most pressing litter threats our ecosystems face.

Update: Most Comprehensive Bag Reduction Law in World Nears Assembly Vote>>

The world's oceans are being filled with materials that take hundreds to thousands of years to decompose and the problem will only grow worse if action is not taken.

60-80% of marine debris overall and up to 90% of floating debris is plastic. Furthermore, 80% of marine debris is estimated to be land-sourced, mostly from urban runoff, like the trash pictured here in the L.A. River. This marine debris rides ocean currents that can take it across the globe, as evidenced by the beach debris on remote Pacific Atolls. As plastic is broken down by the sun it joins the great mass of plastic particles in our oceans that in at least one area of the Pacific outweighs plankton by a factor of 47!

This marine debris presents a danger to marine wildlife. This incredible mass of plastic has grave implications for marine wildlife, including filter feeders such as whales. According to the CCC, more than 1 million seabirds, 100,000 marine mammals, and countless fish have died annually in the north pacific from ingesting or becoming entangled in marine debris.

Furthermore, due to their chemical composition plastic particles collect toxins on their surface which can harm the reproductive health of animals that consume them. Furthermore, marine debris is a drag on local governments, which are mandated to clean it up. The problem is especially great in areas that have been deemed US EPA impaired waterways, and thus must meet Total Maximum Daily Loads for trash, such as the Los Angeles River. Southern California cities alone have spent hundreds of millions on meeting TMDL requirements, and the clean-up costs of marine debris as a whole may well push the $1 billion mark, according to the California Ocean Protection Council.

Addressing these and other concerns, the California Ocean Protection Council adopted a comprehensive set of resolutions last year that set calendar deadlines for the implementation of several marine-reduction goals, such as the expansion of the CRV and the reduction of single-use takeout food packaging.

Greenhouse Gas: Meaningful Emission Reduction through Waste Prevention and Recycling

To help prevent the public health and environmental threats posed by Global Warming, California has committed to an aggressive series of green house gas (GHG) emission reduction goals. Every sector of the state will be called upon to reduce their GHG emissions, including the waste management sector.

Track what the waste sector is working on to reduce GHG emissions in our Climate Change Blog.

Dealing with our plastic deluge is one of the most serious environmental hazards humanity will face this century. Our ocean--source of most of the globe's oxygen and the integral component of our ecosystem--is under threat from plastic waste. In some of the most polluted areas of the Pacific, plastic already outweighs plankton by a factor of six! The vast majority of this ocean pollution--up to 90% of it--comes from litter in urban runoff.