plastic bottles

Plastic bottles fill the famous Cibeles Fountain in Madrid during an exhibit that called attention to the environmental impact of disposable plastics.

Photograph by Randy Olson, National Geographic

A running list of action on plastic pollution

The world is waking up to a crisis of ocean plastic—and we're tracking the developments and solutions as they happen.

ByBrian Clark Howard, Sarah Gibbens, Elaina Zachos, and Laura Parker
June 10, 2019
15 min read
This article was created in partnership with the National Geographic Society.

The world has a plastic pollution problem and it’s snowballing—but so is public awareness and action. National Geographic magazine devoted a special cover package to plastic in June 2018. Here, we continue to track some of the developments around this important issue. We will update this article periodically as news develops.

a whale shark swimming beside a plastic bag in the Gulf of Aden
a great bowerbird at his bower decorated with glass and plastic toys
a sponge crab with plastic over its shell
a marine iguana next to plastic
a rhesus monkey inspecting discarded plastic bottle
a black-footed albatross eating plastic garbage
a green sea turtle swimming away from plastic trash
an albatross near a pile of plastic
a bottlenose dolphin playing with a plastic six pack holder in Hawaii
hyenas at a city dump in Ethiopia
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A whale shark swims beside a plastic bag in the Gulf of Aden near Yemen. Although whale sharks are the biggest fish in the sea, they're still threatened by ingesting small bits of plastic.
Photograph by Thomas P. Peschak, Nat Geo Image Collection
National Geographic is committed to reducing plastics pollution. Learn more about our non-profit activities at natgeo.org/plastics. This story is part of Planet or Plastic?—our multiyear effort to raise awareness about the global plastic waste crisis. Learn what you can do to reduce your own single-use plastics, and take your pledge.

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