The Marianas Trench is one of the most remote places on Earth. The trench runs for 1,580 miles in the Pacific Ocean, over 1,400 miles from the nearest city in the Philippines. It is so deep that if you dropped Mt. Everest into it, the top of the mountain would still be about a mile under water. At 36,000 ft deep, many thought this far flung scar in the Earth’s crust would be untouchable by manmade pollution. Recently, that notion was proven wrong. Scientists found a grocery bag at the bottom of the trench. Even at the deepest reaches of our oceans, discarded single-use plastics are being found. The disregard for the health of our oceans now has no boundaries.

As a part of our Plastic Free Week, we want to raise awareness on just how widespread this problem actually is. There is no limit to the effects pollution has on our oceans. According to Natgeo’s recent june edition, which focuses entirely on the problem of plastic waste, the “working life” of a plastic bag is 15 minutes. Almost all of the plastic trash found in the ocean, 89% according to this research, comes from plastics that are used only once and then thrown away like a plastic water bottles or disposable utensils. Follow this link to read the full article on National Geographic’s website.

Photo credit: A plastic bag floats through Manila Bay in the Philippines. Photograph by Randy Olsen, nationalgeographic.com