The Center for Biological Diversity is tackling this problem on multiple fronts. We have petitioned the EU.S. Environmental Protection Agency asking the government to regulate plastics as a pollutant under the Clean Water Act and will keep pushing for plastic pollution to be treated as the hazardous waste that it is. We have also sued companies that turn plastic into consumer goods to better control their runoff. We are challenging the permits needed to build those new ethane cracker plants and organizing grassroots resistance to stop them. As quoted by UN Environment Programme Executive Director Achim Steiner, Marine debris, trash in our oceans, is a symptom of our throw-away society and our approach to how we use our natural resources. Our tendency as humans to be irresponsible about cleaning up after ourselves is about to get us in trouble. We risk losing many species in the ocean as well as negatively affecting ourselves. The average person produces half a pound of plastic waste every day. Here are some simple things you can change in your daily life to help reduce the amount of plastic you use: bring your own shopping bag, stop buying bottled water, choose cardboard over plastic as much as possible, stop using or buying straws, buying organic products only, and only buy facewash and toothpaste that are free of polypropylene and polyethylene. A good website with many tips on how to reduce your plastic waste is Tree Hugger. If we all reduce the amount of plastic we use on a daily basis, we have a good chance of saving our planet.