Plastic is everywhere. It’s in our bottles, bags, packaging, and even in our clothes. It’s useful because it’s strong and cheap. But there’s a big problem: plastic waste.

Every year, millions of tons of plastic end up in nature. A lot of it goes into the oceans. Sea animals like turtles and birds sometimes eat plastic, thinking it’s food, and this can make them very sick or even cause them to die. Plastic doesn’t disappear easily; it can stay in the environment for hundreds of years, breaking into tiny pieces called microplastics.