Plastic Pollution: How Even Small Trash Kills Wildlife
WASHINGTON – Ocean Conservancy launched a new website, WildlifeImpactCalculator.org, on Monday, enabling individuals and groups who conduct beach and waterway cleanups to quantify the positive impact of their efforts on marine wildlife. The calculator, released ahead of Earth Month, estimates the number of marine animals potentially saved from plastic ingestion based on the types and quantities of debris removed.
According to Ocean Conservancy Senior Director of Conservation Cleanups Allison Schutes, “Every piece of plastic cleaned up from our beaches and waterways is one less threat to the life of a marine animal.” The calculator is designed to demonstrate the tangible benefits of cleanup initiatives.
The Wildlife Impact Calculator incorporates data on over 20 types of plastic pollution commonly found within marine animals, including fishing debris, bottle caps, plastic fragments, lids, straws, plastic utensils, plastic bottles, plastic and foam plates, balloons, plastic bags, and food wrappers. Users can input the number of each item type collected, with a maximum of 9,999 pieces per item, to receive an estimate of the number of animal lives potentially spared.
The tool’s development is based on award-winning research published in November in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. This research quantified the lethal dose of macroplastics – plastic pieces larger than 5mm – ingested by seabirds, sea turtles, and marine mammals. The calculator translates these findings into a practical tool for assessing cleanup impact.
The launch follows a recent report from Oceana detailing the impact of plastic on marine life in U.S. Waters, which found that plastic entanglement and ingestion have been documented in at least 1,800 marine animals. The Oceana report identified plastic bags, balloons, recreational fishing line, plastic sheeting, and food wrappers as the most common plastics consumed by these animals, while plastic packing straps, bags, balloons with strings, and sheeting were the most frequent items causing entanglement.
Beyond Plastics has likewise highlighted the prevalence of plastic bottle caps as a significant source of pollution, noting that they are among the top five items found in beach litter surveys. The organization advocates for tethered bottle caps – designs that keep the cap attached to the bottle – as a solution to prevent caps from becoming litter and harming wildlife.
The European Union’s Single-Use Plastics Directive, requiring attached caps on single-use plastic products by 2024, has prompted major beverage companies like Coca-Cola and Pepsi to adopt this design change.