Image at right: Plastic bags find their way across oceans and end up along once pristine shorelines.
One of the greatest concentrations of plastic trash is a floating island of plastic debris the size of Texas. It's in the north Pacific, a collection of trash that has been swept together by ocean currents.
Image at right: Midway Island is feeling the affects of trash created from thousands of miles away.
There is virtually no way to dispose of plastic waste. It must be recycled or reused.
Image at right: This plastic bag, which statistics show was probably used for
approximately twelve minutes before being thrown away, will take thousands
of years to decompose.
Drains clogged by plastic provide excellent breeding grounds for disease-carrying insects like mosquitoes.
Image at right: Plastic floats in the reflecting pool in Washington, D.C.
Although the finished plastic may be non-toxic, the monomers 
used in its manufacture may be toxic; and small amounts of those
chemical can remain trapped in the product.
Image at right: Not only is plastic toxic, but birds and other wildlife
frequently get entangled or eat the bits of plastic found in their habitat.
Once opened 306 pieces of plastic were found inside this albatrose.
Since the 1950s, one billion tons of plastic have been discarded and much
of it could remain intact for hundreds or thousands of years.
Image at right: Photo by Chris Jordon, a photographer whose images
capture the culture of consumerism.
One barrier to recycling is the widespread use of dyes, fillers, and other additives in plastics.
It's nearly impossible to remove these in a cost-effective way.
Image at right: An albatross sits in back of 
an array of plastic items
found on the beach.
Plastic can be toxic both in its production (plasticizers like adipates and phthalates are often added) and in its painfully slow process of breaking down once disposed.
Recycling plastics has proven difficult. The biggest problem with plastic recycling is that it is difficult to automate the sorting of plastic waste, so it's labor intensive.
After a two year investigation, Greenpeace has concluded that Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) plastic, commonly known as "vinyl", is the worst plastic for the environment.
