By Miriam Raftery

August 30, 2014 (Sacramento) – Plastic accounts for 90% of all floating debris in the ocean. This has negatively impacted over 250 species and puts petroleum-based chemicals into our food chain. Many bags wind up in the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” in the north Pacific Ocean that has been estimated to measure hundreds of thousands, even millions of square miles.  Whales, dolphins and sea turtles choke by swallowing plastic bags, which resemble jellyfish prey. Bags can also become entangled around an animal’s neck.