How exactly does plastic factor into how our planet is faring?

How exactly does plastic factor into our planet’s health? The global plastic waste crisis is very much real and National Geographic has the numbers and infographs to prove it. According to the magazine, 18 bn pounds of plastic waste ends up in the planet’s oceans every year — a number that could likely be reduced if we cut back on plastic packaging, which is used once and not recycled despite accounting for 40% of plastic produced. It may seem difficult, but the human race has only really become this dependent on plastic in the past two decades: Almost half of all the plastic ever produced has been made since 2000. Check out the magazine’s years-long series, Planet or Plastic, for a world of material on how and why plastic is the “scourge of the Earth.”