Water bottles, plastic bags, and straws tossed on the sidewalks of lakeshore cities may be headed on a long, wet journey.
“For coastal communities, somewhere between 15 and 40 percent of that mismanaged waste will end up in the water system,” says Matthew Hoffman, associate professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology.
And all that litter adds up…
Hoffman: “Around 10,000 tons of plastic enters the lakes every year.”
In one year alone, the plastic that enters lake Michigan could fill a hundred Olympic size swimming pools.
Plastic can be deadly to birds, turtles and fish, so keeping litter off the streets is not just an aesthetic issue. Clean streets are good for aquatic systems, too.
Hear Matthew Hoffman describe solutions:
Get Schooled:
- Check out more from Hoffman’s study about the amount of plastic that enters the Great Lakes.
- Read more about the plastic pollution problem from Great Lakes Now.
- Find out how you can help prevent plastic pollution from NRDC.
The fine print:
- This segment was produced in partnership with Cornell University’s Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future
