Plastic Pollution — Our Rivers & Oceans in Crisis

Plastic pollution is in every river, every bay, and every ocean on Earth. It's in the water we fly over every single day, and it's not going away on its own. Plastic never truly biodegrades — it just breaks into smaller and smaller pieces that persist for centuries. Most ocean plastic starts on land, in our rivers, stormwater drains, and streets, and travels to the sea. The Indian River Lagoon, the St. Johns River, and Florida's coastal waterways are some of the most plastic-polluted in the Southeast. In this lesson, we'll learn how plastic enters our waterways, the invisible threat of microplastics, the scale of the ocean garbage patches, how plastic harms Florida wildlife, and what you can actually do about it.