Trash seems to be everywhere … blowing in the streets, perching in trees above creeks, and washing ashore on our nation’s coasts. Maybe that’s because people in the U.S. generated 262 million tons of solid waste in 2015 with about 13% of that being plastics — that’s equivalent to nearly 21 million school buses. Only one-quarter of it was recycled. Trash ends up in local waterways, and eventually in the ocean, from rain, wind, littering activities, streams, and storm drainage.
![Marine debris washed up on a beach. (Image credit: USFWS) Marine debris washed up on a beach.](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_width_1275/public/legacy/image/2019/Jun/PHOTO%20-%20Marine%20debris%20on%20beach%20-%20051618-%20SusanWhite_USFWS%20-%202240x1068%20-%20LANDSCAPE.jpg?itok=jIuNLNHl)
Marine debris washed up on a beach. (Image credit: USFWS)