Image shows litter items flowing from the stormwater drain into a waterway. There are labels showing three clickable options to find out more about where litter goes.
Bushland
Image shows litter items washing along a creek and depositing into bushland areas.
The litter then travels through the waterways, and into bushland areas.
Image shows the littered items breaking down into microplastics.
Rain and heat from the sun break the litter into small pieces called microplastics, which persist in the environment.23
Image shows a mother and baby koala moving across the screen, the mother koala is searching for food and looking at the microplastics.
Small animals can mistake this plastic for food. This can increase the chance of disease and death, with many animals suffering for months until they die.27
Image shows the littered items continuing to break down into microplastics.
Over time, toxic chemicals leach into the environment. This leads to nutrient pollution and changes the soil pH, disrupting the growth of natural habitats.28
Image shows the sun shining onto the plastic bag and the plastic bag lighting on fire.
Many plastic items absorb the heat of the sun, which can lead to bushfires due to reflective packaging materials.29
Creeks
Image shows litter items washing along a creek and depositing into mangroves.
The litter then travels through the waterways, and into surrounding creeks and rivers.
Mangroves rely on their exposed roots for oxygen. Excess litter is a huge threat as it can smother and deprive the roots of oxygen.22
Image shows litter items in the creek, breaking up into microplastics.
Heat from the sun and river currents break it into small pieces called microplastics, which persist in the environment.23
Image shows a crab moving towards the microplastics in the creek. The crab mistakes the microplastics for food.
Which small animals can mistake for food.
Image shows the crab on a dinner plate with a knife and fork alongside it. The plate is surrounded by microplastics breaking apart in the creek.
It’s likely that any plate of seafood, regardless of its origin, will contain microplastics. Even if you don’t eat seafood, microplastics are also found in drinking water.24
Image shows a polluted creek with algal blooms.
Food scraps and other organic litter items can increase algal blooms in water, which reduces the amount of available oxygen for aquatic life and mangroves.25
As most estuaries connect to oceans, and around 80% of ocean plastics come from land, these items will most likely end up in the ocean for centuries.26
Ocean
Image shows litter items washing along a river and out into the ocean.
The litter then travels through the waterways, and into the ocean.
Image shows the litter items in the ocean, breaking apart into microplastics.
Waves and heat from the sun break it into small pieces called microplastics, which persist in the environment.23
Image shows fish moving towards the microplastics in the ocean. The fish mistake the microplastics for food.
Which marine life can mistake for food.
Image shows a fish on a dinner plate with a knife and fork alongside it. The plate is surrounded by microplastics breaking apart in the ocean.
It’s likely that any plate of seafood, regardless of its origin, will contain microplastics. Even if you don’t eat seafood, microplastics are also found in drinking water.24
Image shows the ocean with litter items breaking apart into microplastics against a night sky with stars.
There are more microplastics in the ocean than there are stars in the milky way.30
Image shows the disintegrated litter items and their microplastics sinking to the sea floor.
70% of microplastics will eventually sink to the seafloor and embed into marine sediments. That means that the very base of the ocean will be largely composed of plastic.31
