Our home is becoming a garbage dump...

Plastic bags underwater often resemble jellyfish, a favorite food of sea turtles.

It can take more than 20 years for plastic to break down in the ocean. Even then it's microplastic, which is consumed by marine life (like shellfish and other filter feeders) instead of food, causing harm.

Plastic bags kill millions of marine animals every year from getting stuck inside the digestive tract and wrapping up/constricting marine animals.

Go to Recycle Location Finder to recycle your plastic bags!

Just a reminder: if you see an injured sea turtle, please call 800-922-5431!

Plastic spoons, when swallowed will puncture and tear the insides of marine animals causing death.

They can last up to 20 years in the ocean before they start to break down.

Glass will last 1 million years before it begins to break down, though ocean waves and tides along the bottom may grind glass into smaller and smaller pieces. While it is still around though, glass can be a danger to marine animals (and people at the beach) by cutting and trapping them.

The boot sole will last up to 80 years and the leather can take up to 50 years to break down, and releasing toxins into the water during this time.

Televisions are made of glass, neon, xenon, argon gases, plastics, copper, tin, zinc, silicon, chromium, and many other materials.

Can last up to a million years in the ocean, though some components may take a shorter amount of time to naturally break down.

As televisions break down, they release toxins and poisonous gases into the ocean during that time.

Learn where you can E-cycle your electronics!

There are some facilities available to E-cycle televisons that will pick it up for you, too.

DVDs and CDs are made from a polycarbonate plastic, aluminum, and lacquer. They are engineered to be tough, heat resistant, and impact resistant.

Research has indicated that CDs will not decompose. Certain components do break down through oxidation and some also photodegrade - meaning that they break down slowly when exposed to sunlight. During this photodegradation process, they also release toxins into the water.

If you want to recycle your CDs send them to:

The CD Recycling Center
CD Recycling Center of America
68E Stiles Road
Salem, NH 03079

Beverage cans are made of aluminum or tin and usually cut and trap marine animals.

They can last 50 years in the ocean.

Satellite dishes are made mostly from fiberglass and aluminum (reflector) and usally steel to support the amplifier that receives the signal.

Ocean waves will break down the fiberglass and mostly likely consumed by marine animals.

The fiberglass will often be broken apart by waves and erosion from the tides, and the aluminum can take up to 50 years to break down.

There are some facilities available to E-cycle satellite dishes and similar electronic equipment.

This plastic bottle will last more than 150 years, eventually all plastics will turn into microplastic; an increasing problem for the marine ecosystem and marine animals.

Tires are made of complex rubber and steel releasing toxic chemicals.

Can last over 450 years

Can be recycled/upcycled into:

• Crumb rubber
• Recycled asphalt pavement
• A blend of for cement concrete
• Recycled into other tires

How do you properly dispose of old tires?

Most counties have collection programs that accept a minimal number of waste tires (usually about five) at drop-off recycling centers. Check with your local recycling coordinator or call the SCDHEC Office of Solid Waste Reduction and Recycling at 1-800-768-7348 for a drop-off center near you.