Water collected in storm drains often pours directly into nearby streams. 



also lack adequate collection and dis- 

 posal systems for household wastes. 

 The United States contends with wastes 

 that run the gamut from sewage items to 

 commercial fishing trash to recreational 

 litter. Sunbathers toss cosmetic contain- 

 ers onto Mediterranean beaches, while 

 paint chips accumulate on the seafloor 

 in the wake of heavy shipping traffic. 

 Many of the same debris problems can 

 be found in the Southern Hemisphere — 

 Australia, New Zealand and South Af- 

 rica — but they are complicated by the 

 vastness of the waters there, strong 



winds, currents and sinks that collect 

 trash on the seafloor. 



From this cursory look around the 

 world, a few conclusions can be drawn. 

 Developing countries need to improve 

 their waste collection systems in port 

 and on land, while industrialized coun- 

 tries should control infrastructure fail- 

 ures and trash left by tourists, boaters 

 and other upland sources. 



So the question becomes, how do 

 we tackle marine debris globally when 

 the problem is so different worldwide? 

 The fractured nature of the problem 



doesn't lend itself to a standard ap- 

 proach. Rather, the problems and solu- 

 tions appear to be country-specific. 



The answer — a resounding chorus 

 from scientists, resource managers and 

 concerned citizens of all tongues — is a 

 global commitment to measure marine 

 debris and its impacts, trace its sources 

 and stop it in its path. 



But before the problem 



can be solved, 

 the public must consider 

 marine debris an important issue. 

 And industry, especially businesses 



that contribute litter, 

 must be convinced that reducing 

 and managing waste is 

 economically smart and 

 civically responsible. 



Worldwide, we share a historical 

 perspective of the ocean and other large 

 bodies of water. For centuries, we 

 viewed them as dumping grounds for 

 waste. Trash was heaved overboard from 

 ships and still is, despite the London 

 Dumping Convention and the Interna- 

 tional Convention for the Prevention of 

 Pollution from Ships (MARPOL). It has 

 been dumped onto beaches, into creeks 

 or rivers or just thrown away in coastal 

 areas and washed into the sea. It has 

 drained from countless inland sources. 



But not until the 1970s was marine 

 debris launched as a global issue. Since 

 then, we have picked up, counted, 

 weighed and measured shoreside gar- 

 bage. We have exposed the condition of 

 trashy beaches. And we have learned 

 about the types of litter in our seas and 

 how they affect communities of humans, 

 animals and even plants. 



Plastics have emerged as the domi- 

 nant problem worldwide. Still, our un- 

 derstanding of marine debris is incom- 

 plete. Twenty years into our research, 

 efforts to identify sources are still crude. 

 And only a few studies have looked at 

 sources with an eye toward tracing 

 trends and reducing debris. Collecting 

 data on waterborne garbage for the sake 

 of having data isn't enough. Nor are 



4 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 1994 



