http://theconversation.com/whose-job-is-it-to-clear-up-all-the-rubbish-floating-in-the-oceans-25082

7 April 2014
Whose job is it to clear up all the rubbish floating in the oceans?

By Alistair McIlgorm, University of Wollongong

I was in the middle of giving a talk on the marine debris problem at a
notable Californian marine research institute, when I drank the last of
my water bottle, threw it onto the hall floor from the podium, and kept
talking.

There it sat, to the surprise of several members of the audience. One
well-meaning citizen then picked it up and returned it to the lectern.

?Why did you do that?? I asked. ?It just seemed wrong to leave it
there,? he replied. Individuals know that something is wrong when the
oceans are filled with debris. It is time for governments to act on that
knowledge.

But sea debris comes from both land and sea sources and it?s hard to
point to its exact origin and hence to get a polluter to take
responsibility for cleaning it up.