Plastic never fully breaks down yet we throw out millions of plastic products every few minutes. The situation seems hopeless but groups like Save Our Shores in Santa Cruz have proven that a few dedicated people can create huge waves of change.

I just got back from my first class as an environmental steward with the organization Save Our Shores. SOS is a non-profit that runs off the power of volunteers and with that power has established the Montery Bay National Marine Sanctuary, banned styrofoam in Santa Cruz County, educated people of all ages about the state of our oceans, and picked up 26,000 lbs of trash in 2009 alone off the Santa Cruz beaches.

What is this an image of? See answer with image at end of article.

In tonight’s class I was exposed to many of the stupefying plastic facts that I have written about in other blog articles (read The Sea Series).

Every hour 2.4 million pieces of plastic enter our oceans.

This is no surprise when you consider that:

In the U.S. every 5 seconds we throw out 60,000 plastic bags.

Every 5 minutes we toss out 2 million plastic beverage bottles.

(Visit chrisjordan.com to see artistic visuals of these statistics like the one at left and nationalgeographic.com for info on a newly described garbage patch in the Atlantic.)

Just think about those figures for a moment.

By now, another 60,000 plastic bags have been tossed and are making their way steadily into our oceans and the bellies of sea turtles, albatross, fish and eventually us. By the time you’ve finished reading this blog close to another 2 million plastic bottles will have entered the waste stream.

Every plastic bottle you have ever used, every plastic bag, every single plastic item, will be on this earth forever. It will never completely break down. Ever.

The solution? Phase out all plastic from your daily life. Sound impossible? Well consider this: Just 3 generations ago we were virtually a plastic-free country. Children carried their lunches wrapped in wax paper, vegetables at the store were never pre-packaged and beverages came in glass bottles. We did it then so why can’t we do it now with more knowledge and technology? We definitely can and we must before plastic destroys our oceans, the life source of our planet.

2 million plastic bottles are thrown away in the U.S. every 5 minutes.

Now before you put your computer to sleep in utter frustration at the mess we’ve made for ourselves, read the first paragraph of this blog again.

A group of volunteers every year in Santa Cruz cleans thousands of pounds of trash off our beaches, educates the public about these issues and steadily works towards a greener future. And of course there are plenty of other groups elsewhere dedicating their time and spirit to the health of our planet.

There is hope but not without action. Next time think twice before purchasing that plastic encased beverage or accepting that disposable plastic bag to carry your groceries a few steps to your car and into your house. Ask yourself, “Is it really necessary? Is it really worth the health of our oceans, our planet, and the health of humanity?”

I don’t think so either.

**Need some good news after all the bad? Plastic bottled water sales have dropped for the first time in at least five years! Read the full article here.