Additional Resources on Trash in our Ocean

NOAA Marine Debris Program
United States-based photo galleries, funding resources, demystifying the Garbage Patch and more.  Download informational PDFs such as:

• NOAA Marine Debris 101 Brochure
• NOAA Marine Debris facts and
• NOAA Marine Debris Program

Algalita Marine Research Foundation
Research includes the prevalence and quantification of plastic debris in the North Pacific Sub-tropical Gyre (NPSG), biological impact of plastics on marine life and the human food chain. Download information PDFs such as:

• Algalita Plastic Debris and
• Algalita Plastics are Forever Brochure

Environmental Protection Agency
Research includes National Marine Debris Monitoring Program, Ocean Survey Vessel, and a National Pollution Discharge Elimination System. Download informational PDFs such as:

• EPA Marine Debris Brochure

United Nations Environmental Program
Development of a “global initiative on marine litter,” contribution to the Secretary General's report on "Oceans and Law of the Sea" to the sixty-first session of the General Assembly, series of regional actions on marine litter in several Regional Seas Conventions and Action Plans, and establishment of a global partnership on marine litter during the 2nd Intergovernmental Review Meeting of the GPA. Download files such as:

• UNEP Marine Litter: A Global

Ocean Conservancy
Previously published the groundbreaking report "Plastics in the Ocean: More than a Litter Problem," which together with data from the first International Coastal Cleanup (ICC), played a critical role in getting the U.S. to ratify the treaty on marine pollution in 1987. The growing body of ICC data is key to Ocean Conservancy's successful policy efforts, including passage of the Marine Debris, Research, and Prevention Act of 2006. Download informational PDFs such as

• Tracking Trash: 25 Years of Action for the Ocean and
• Ocean Conservancy: National Marine Debris Monitoring Report

California Coastal Commission
Initiated California Coastal Cleanup Day, Adopt-A-Beach program and the Coastal Stewardship Pledge. Involved with many community habitat restoration programs, the “Boating Clean and Green Campaign” and educational campaigns.

Californians Against Waste
Working on issues such as California's Bottle and Can Bill, plastic litter and waste reduction campaign and California’s e-waste disposal site.

Clean Ocean Action
A broad-based coalition of 125 active boating, business, community, conservation, diving, environmental, fishing, religious, service, student, surfing and women's groups. Established the nation’s first Clean Ocean Zone.

Zero Waste
Their mission is to help organizations (schools, businesses, governments) implement sustainable solutions and standards to realize a more sustainable future including facilitation in recycling and e-waste collection, environmental packaging information, and green cleaning product distribution.             

Plastic Debris River to Sea Project
A project of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation and California Coastal Commission with the primary goal to reduce the land-based discharges via urban runoff of plastics and other discarded materials that degrade water quality and impair beneficial uses of inland and coastal waters. Download informational PDFS such as the Plastic Debris Project Brochure.

Project Kaisei
Project Kaisei is a non-profit organization focused on increasing awareness of the scale of marine debris, its impact on our environment, and the solutions for both prevention and clean-up. Project Kaisei has completed two successful expeditions to study the North Pacific Gyre to better understand the metrics of what is there, how some of it can be removed, and what can be done about it once it is removed.

5 Gyres
5 Gyre’s mission is to conduct research and communicate about the global impact of plastic pollution in the world’s oceans and employ strategies to eliminate the accumulation of plastic pollution in the 5 subtropical gyres.

Thank You Ocean
California’s Thank You Ocean Campaign is a nonprofit partnership supported by the State of California, the NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries and the Ocean Communicators Alliance. The campaign mission is to raise awareness of the benefits the ocean provides to us and to identify ways each of us can help protect the ocean in our everyday lives through public service announcements, pod-casts and advertising campaigns.

International Pellet Watch
A project that tracks beached plastic resin pellets in order to monitor global Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). Download informational PDFs such as:

• International Pellet Watch: General Information and
• International Pellet Watch: Background

Life Cycle of Plastics
Diagrams of plastic life cycle from extraction of the raw resource to disposal of manufactured plastic product.

American Chemistry Council
American Chemistry applies the science of chemistry to make innovative products and services that make people's lives better, healthier and safer. ACC is committed to improved environmental, health and safety performance through common sense advocacy designed to address major public policy issues, and health and environmental research and product testing. Download informational PDFs such as:

• Myths behind Plastic Bags and
• Plastic Packaging and Resource Conservation.

California Ocean Protection Council (OPC)
The mission of the OPC is to ensure that California maintains healthy, resilient and productive ocean and coastal ecosystems for the benefit of current and future generations.  Marine debris is one of their priority action items. OPC recently produced a report summarizing the current state of research on the sources, distribution, and impacts of plastic marine debris in California, including an emerging field of research: the toxicology of plastics in seawater.

• Plastic Debris in the California Marine Ecosystem: A Summary of Current Research, Solution Efforts and Data Gaps

Slideshow photo credits include NOAA and Andre Lima.