Old plastics, fresh dirt.

Old plastics, fresh dirt.
Plastics composed 12% of the 250 million tons of trash Americans generated in 2010, according to the EPA. Food waste and yard trimmings, in contrast, made up 27%. Compostable plastics won’t make the problem of plastic waste magically disappear. But they can help municipalities and institutions divert organic waste away from the landfill and to the compost pile.

Video Reveals Shocking Footage of Sea Lions Strangled by Debris

Video Reveals Shocking Footage of Sea Lions Strangled by Debris
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Video Reveals Shocking Footage of Sea Lions Strangled by Debris 13 Feb 2012 The images aren't pretty: Sea lions with shiny fishing lures protruding from their mouths or with their necks tightly bound, even deeply cut, by packing bands once used to secure boxes. Seals with necks tightly encircled by pieces of fishing net. The scientists who study these animals know that becoming entangled with items such as these can injure or even kill the unlucky animals. A video, put together by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, documents the effects of loops, fishing gear and other debris, including a tire and a wind sock - which drowned a sea lion by pinning her flippers to her body. [See video of entangled sea lions.]

Filmmaker sounds alarm over ocean of plastic.

Filmmaker sounds alarm over ocean of plastic.
On Midway atoll in the North Pacific, dozens of young albatross lie dead on the sand, their stomachs filled with plastic objects their parents have mistaken for food. That surreal sight, says film director Craig Leeson, is one of the many symptoms of a plague afflicting the world's oceans, food chains and human communities: the onslaught of discarded plastic.