Marine pollution is a growing global crisis, harming marine ecosystems, wildlife, and human health. The Ocean Conservancy’s 2024 Annual Report highlights cigarette butts as the most common litter, with small, hard-to-remove debris making up much of the waste (over 2.3M items). Plastic pollution is alarming as it breaks into microplastics, infiltrating food chains through marine life and reaching our tables, with nearly no way to remove them.

 Cigarette butts, are still the most common form of marine litter, posing another significant threat to marine and human life. Cigarettes contain nicotine, arsenic, and more than 7,000 harmful chemicals, which leach into the sand and water, poisoning marine organisms and disrupting ecosystems. Over time, these toxins accumulate, causing long-term damage to ocean health.

Americans generate nearly 292M tons of trash annually (EPA, 2018), much of it plastic. Since the 1950s, plastic’s low cost and convenience have fueled its widespread use, but now we face the consequences—growing ocean garbage patches and microplastics invading our environment and bodies. Studies have even found microplastics in human lungs, blood, and organs (ScienceNews, 2022).