Ocean plastic is genuinely overwhelming in scale—an estimated 11 million metric tons enters the ocean each year, according to a 2020 study in Science. At that scale, individual action can feel pointless. But the math matters: the plastic that’s in the ocean came from somewhere on land, and land-based actions—by individuals, households, and communities—are the points of intervention before it reaches the water.
Here’s what you can actually do, in rough order of impact.
Highest Impact: Reduce What You Buy and Throw Away
1. Stop buying single-use plastic water bottles. A reusable water bottle eliminates hundreds of plastic bottles per year per person. It’s also cheaper. This is the clearest, most impactful individual action on plastic.
2. Bring your own bags. Plastic grocery bags are one of the most commonly found items in ocean plastic surveys. Reusable tote bags have almost zero barriers to adoption; the habit just needs to be established.
3. Choose products with less packaging. Concentrated products (dish soap tablets, detergent sheets, shampoo bars) produce a fraction of the plastic waste of their conventional equivalents. Bar soap, bulk foods, and products sold in glass or cardboard are all lower-packaging choices.
4. Request less packaging when ordering online. Most major retailers allow you to consolidate shipments and opt out of excess packaging. Amazon has a “frustration-free packaging” option; other retailers have similar programs.
Community and Local Action
5. Participate in beach and waterway cleanups. Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup coordinates volunteers globally every September; local groups run events year-round. Beyond the direct removal of plastic (genuinely useful), cleanups generate data on which plastic types are most common in your area, which informs local policy.
6. Support or advocate for local plastic bag bans and packaging ordinances. Many municipalities have enacted these; many haven’t. Written comments to local officials, letters to the editor, and participation in public comment processes are the most effective forms of individual political action.
7. Use storm drain stenciling or adopt a storm drain. A large percentage of land-based plastic reaches the ocean through storm drains, which lead directly to waterways. Organizations like Clean Ocean Action and local watershed groups run drain marking programs that remind people that drains connect to the ocean.
Consumer Choices That Signal Demand
8. Choose seafood certified by Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) or verified by Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch. Sustainable fisheries practices reduce the amount of lost fishing gear (which makes up an estimated 10–20% of ocean plastic by weight) in the water.
9. Wash synthetic clothes in a Guppyfriend bag or use a Cora Ball to capture microfibers before they enter wastewater. Synthetic textiles (polyester, nylon, acrylic) shed microplastic fibers with every wash; these pass through wastewater treatment and reach waterways. A Guppyfriend laundry bag or Cora Ball captures a significant percentage of these fibers.
10. Support Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) legislation. EPR laws require manufacturers to fund and manage the end-of-life disposal of the packaging they produce—shifting responsibility from municipalities (and therefore taxpayers) to producers, which creates a financial incentive to reduce packaging. Several US states have passed EPR laws; supporting this policy framework at the state and federal level is probably the highest-leverage political action available to individuals on packaging waste.
Longer-Term
11–15. Reduce meat and dairy consumption (animal agriculture is a significant driver of packaging and food waste); compost food scraps (organic material in landfills produces methane and leaches into waterways); support organizations doing ocean cleanup research (The Ocean Cleanup, Parley for the Oceans); choose personal care products without microbeads (now banned in some countries but still present in some international products); and vote for candidates who support environmental legislation.
Individual choices add up; policy changes at scale are what the math actually requires. Doing both is the honest approach.
✏️ See our content disclosure.
