Solutions

The most evident solution for this global issue would be to increase awareness of the issue and educate people about being accountable for their own trash. With this, policy changes and implementation can be accomplished more easily. Recycling and the shift to biodegradable plastics can also allow for vast improvement with the issue.

Some of the most involved organizations include the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, The Ocean Conservancy, The Ocean Clean Up, and Heal the Bay.

The NOAA offers many opportunities for research as well as plenty of data and news about current issues. The Ocean Clean Up is currently in the developmental stages of new technologies that would actually work to remove the marine debris from the oceans. One of the biggest issues, of course, is the problem of being able to only capture the debris while avoiding oceanic wildlife. The technologies in this design take this into account and have engineered the mechanism to be environmentally sound.

Other solutions that have been in effect has been extremely successful has been through the Ocean Conservancy. They organize the International Coastal Clean Up, which has been the largest volunteering event in the world. In 2013, 648,014 volunteers across 92 countries were able to pick up more than 12.3 million pounds of trash along the coast lines that would have otherwise ended up in the oceans!

In the past year, many parts of California have also banned the use of plastic bags since the average consumer usually would use about 500 plastic bags per year. Additionally, The EPA passed an act called the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act (MPRSA), most commonly known as the Ocean Dumping Act that makes it illegal to dispose of waste into the ocean that will endanger human health. In 1982, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea set global standards for oceanic regulations.