Plastic is so common in our everyday lives that we don't even think twice about it. According to BanTheBottle.net, the United States went through 50 billion plastic water bottles alone last year and studies show that only around 11.5 billion of those made it into the recycling bins. Most people have not stopped to think about where their water bottles end up, but the end result of not wanting to take 2 extra seconds to find a recycling bin is devastating for our oceans and marine life.

There are so many catastrophic effects of such an enormous demand for plastic. First, in order to produce all the plastic that we use, BanTheBottle.net also states that it takes well over 15 million barrels of oil, which is a waste of a valuable resource. It takes a lot of energy to produce them and the factory pollution is obviously hazardous to the atmosphere.

Along with that, there have been far too many cases of finding marine life washed up and dead because they swallowed too many plastic bags, water bottles, containers, etc. It has been said that some marine animals confuse plastic bags with jellyfish, and try to eat them.

As plastic undeniably becomes one of the most pervasive problems with the pollution on our planet, many scientists and marine biologists are trying to find ways to clean up the oceans. There have been multiple instances of huge layers of trash being found floating in the ocean. Some patches are made of big items like bags or water bottles, but others, which are referred to as "plastic patches," are composed of little tiny pieces of plastic that float together. Therefore, the size of them makes it nearly impossible to collect them all from the vast waters of the ocean.

This plastic epidemic is suffocating the beauty of our planet, especially our amazing oceans and the beautiful life below it.

There are many ways each individual can play their part in making sure this issue does not continue to spiral downhill.

For one, buy a reusable water bottle. Not to be one of those girls but the ice in my Hydro Flask really stays frozen for days. Can a plastic water bottle do that?

One of the biggest yet simplest ways to reduce a ton of your plastic consumption is to buy a reusable grocery bag since normal plastic bags can take up to 1,000 years to decompose! Plus reusable ones are pretty cute and trendy so it's a win-win.

Pack lunches and snacks in reusable containers rather than using ziplock bags which in turn saves a ton of money!