There is an estimated 100 million tons of plastic in the ocean, originating from landfills and urban cities. Accidental ingestion of plastic kills over a million sea animals each year, including thousands of sea turtles, who often mistake floating plastic bags for jellyfish, a common food source for some species.
Beach and ocean cleanups are some of the easiest ways to help support sea turtle conservation. But preventing the plastic from getting to the ocean in first place is an even more important effort. Some US cities are banning plastic bags and encouraging people to bring reusable shopping bags and cut down on plastic waste. Also, the more plastic we recycle, the less we put into the oceans.
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