Every year, about 8-million tons of plastic ends up in our oceans, which is equal to five bags filled with plastic going along every foot of coastline in the world, according to Plastic Oceans, a non-profit organization. By 2025, they estimate the annual input will be about twice that.
But how exactly is so much plastic and waste ending up in our waters? And what happens to that plastic once it is swept away by the oceans’ currents?
The ocean currents may push trash and plastic to a gyre — think of them like large slow-moving whirlpools in the ocean. When garbage enters a gyre, it’s slowly pulled into the center where they form a huge garbage patch.