10 Facts About Plastic Pollution You Need to Know

Giving Compass’ Take:

• Seneo Mwamba shares facts that everyday consumers need to know about why the end of plastic use is so vital and how to achieve it. 

• How can you tackle plastic in your community and beyond?

• Learn why reducing plastic pollution isn’t enough to save the ocean. 

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Plastic is terrible for the environment. David Attenborough and the Blue Planet II team really brought the issue home — and now, brilliantly, we hear about it all the time.

Countries and cities around the world are banning plastic use left, right, and centre, and the call for the end of single-use plastics is at an all-time high.

Here are some lesser-known facts about plastic you really need to know:

1. Since the 1950s, around 8.3 billion tons of plastic have been produced worldwide.
2. In some parts of the world, using plastic is already illegal.
3. 73% of beach litter worldwide is plastic.
4. A million plastic bottles are bought around the world every minute.
5. Worldwide, about 2 million plastic bags are used every minute.
6. 90% of plastic polluting our oceans is carried by just 10 rivers.
7. Plastic is killing more than 1.1 million seabirds and animals every year.
8. The average person eats 70,000 microplastics each year.
9. The average time that a plastic bag is used for is … 12 minutes.
10. Over the past 50 years, world plastic production has doubled.

Read the full article about plastic pollution facts by Seneo Mwamba at Global Citizen.