9 Startling Facts About Plastics in the Ocean

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# social text : How much do you know about plastic pollution? Take this @pewenvironment quiz and find out nine startling facts about plastics in the ocean. # social url : https://pew.org/2NsCVYm # _imgurl : /~/media/data-visualizations/interactives/2018/eu-fisheries-quiz/images/ ? In which of the following products are plastics commonly found? - Clothes - Health and beauty products - Cellphones + All of the above ! Plastic is an inexpensive, durable material found in many items that we use daily, including some facial cleansers, toothpastes, and clothes. ? How long does it take for plastic to decompose? - 100 years - 200 years - 300 years + More than 400 years ! Plastic has been around for only a little over 100 years, but studies show that plastic beverage bottles, for example, will take more than 400 years to decompose. This means the first plastic bottle that was ever produced is likely still around. ? True or false: Plastics can fully biodegrade once in the ocean. - True + False ! Most commonly used plastics never fully degrade in water, instead breaking down into small pieces. If they are less than 5 millimeters, about the width of a pencil, these pieces are considered “microplastics,” which can be very harmful to the ocean and marine life. ? A garbage truck’s worth of plastic is dumped into the ocean every ____. - Second + Minute ! An estimated 5 million to 13 million metric tons of plastic flows from the land and enters the ocean each year. This is equivalent to emptying a garbage truck into the ocean every minute. - Hour - Day ? By what year is it estimated that the weight of plastic in the ocean will exceed the weight of all the fish in the ocean? - 2030 + 2050 ! In its 2016 report “The New Plastics Economy: Rethinking the Future of Plastics” the World Economic Forum estimated that by 2050, there will be more plastics in the ocean than fish by weight. - 2070 - 2100 ? Factories worldwide had produced 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic by 2017, but only ____ percent was recycled. + 9 ! According to the journal Science Advances, only 9 percent of plastics ever produced have been recycled. - 17 - 22 - 30 ? True or false: As of 2015, 79 percent of plastic waste had accumulated in landfills and the natural environment. + True ! According to the peer-reviewed journal Science Advances, about 12 billion metric tons of plastic waste will be in landfills or the natural environment by 2050 if current plastic production and waste-management trends continue. - False ? In the next 20 years, global plastic production is expected to: - Be cut in half - Stay the same + Double ! The World Economic Forum predicted in its 2016 report “The New Plastics Economy: Rethinking the Future of Plastics” that plastics production will double in the next 20 years. - Triple ? Which of the following can be used as an alternative to single-use plastics? - Reusable bags - Stainless-steel mugs and water bottles - Metal straws + All of the above ! Reusable bags, stainless steel, and even plant-based materials are among the alternatives for plastic.