Question: Is the waste down solely to Humans?

Nicolas Biber answered on 15 Jun 2011:

Hey Megann

Yes it is, at least the waste that does not degrade in nature. At the beginning of the nineteenth century people came up with a way to attach molecules together in very long chains. We call them polymers. Polymers also occur in nature, but not quite the same kind. Humans came up with a type of polymer that is extremely resistant to degradation, which makes it a very good material to make stuff from. Unfortunately this material -plastic – is also very cheap, and we started making disposable stuff from it. So we keep making it and then throwing it away. Plastic does not occur naturally, so we really only have ourselves to blame for that.