How do all of the plastics end up in the ocean?

[IndigoErth]

edit: Saw a commercial for this organization this morning, it might be of interest in this subject. They work to clean up ocean trash and sell bracelets made of recycled plastic and glass that helps support their efforts.

https://4ocean.com/

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[MsMarvelDuckie]

Originally Posted by Candy Kappa

"What's up with all that litter ending up in the ocean... no, let's not include litterbugs in the discussion." oh, Andrew, oh you silly goose

Yeah, that baffles me, too. I mean, why WOULDN'T you include littering and illegal dumping in a discussion like this? There are literally thousands of illegal dump sites here in the states alone, spots where people just throw their garbage out of a truck or trailer and hope they never get caught. Or, y'know, stuff that just isn't accepted by local landfills, so they haul it off somewhere themselves to get rid of it. Out of sight, out of mind. And that's not even counting stuff that gets blown out of vehicles with open cabs or truck beds. That contributes more than you might think. If we want to talk about trash in the oceans (and plastics aren't neccessarily the worst) we should discuss ALL of it. Not just what SUPPOSEDLY was taken to landfills.