Street litter, such as plastic bags, cups, and candy wrappers, often gets swept away with rain water into storm drains and ends up floating in the ocean or washing up on our beaches. A great deal of street litter is made up of plastic, which takes hundreds of years to break down and become harmless to the environment.
Marine animals can mistake plastics for food and can become tangled up in it.
Recycle as much of your trash as possible, and put all other litter in garbage cans. If you see trash on the ground, pick it up and toss it in the nearest trash can.