The concerning story of plastic and the ocean

Ocean debris affects at least 800 species. 3/4’s of marine debris is plastic and breaks into microplastics. These absorb and release contaminants that can disrupt the food chain. Marine and coastal animals are impacted by this pollution, often with devastating consequences—and plastic waste is increasing.

What happens to your plastic bottle when you recycle it?

Reduce, reuse, or recycle?

How does your plastic end up in the Arctic?

How does plastic end up in the ocean?

What happens to microplastics in the ocean?

How Ocean Wise® fights the plastic problem

We are working to inspire the global community to #BePlasticWise. Ocean Wise’s efforts include: researching plastic’s impact on the marine environment; cleaning plastic from watersheds through the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup, and building alliances in the public and private sector (such as the Microfiber Partnership which is working with industry leaders to tackle microfiber pollution originating from the apparel industry).

Ocean Wise® and PAC address microplastics pollution problem in white paper

Packaging waste is present in the aquatic environment, and the packaging industry can be a part of the solution. In 2018, Ocean Wise® and the PAC Packaging Consortium (PAC) teamed up to inform and present industry-specific solutions to the global issue of ocean plastic pollution. The white paper presents the science and solutions.

We research plastic’s impact

In the ocean, plastic breaks down over time into tinier pieces, found from pole to pole. Ocean Wise conducts groundbreaking research on microplastic pollution.

Learn more about Ocean Wise’s microplastics research