California Coast & Ocean

That's the approach southern California is trying to get a handle on. As early as the 1980s, Los Angeles County, spurred by the amount of trash washing up on area beaches, installed booms on the Los Angeles River and Ballona Creek to capture some of the debris before it reaches the coast. More recently, following a lawsuit by environmental groups, county and city governments within Los Angeles County were ordered by the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board to completely eliminate all trash runoff into the watershed by the end of 2012.

That requirement has forced local governments in the county to reassess municipal waste and water policies and practices (for example, how much trash escapes during city trash collection?) and spurred installation of improved storm drain screens and catch basins, as well as development of better screen technologies and designs. It has also led to new permitting systems for municipal and manufacturer facilities, greater enforcement efforts against illegal discharges, and the targeting of trash "hot spots." Under the water board's plan, government agencies are also required to undertake public education and outreach to cut down on litter and encourage people to reduce, reuse, and recycle.

In Orange County, the Earth Resource Foundation in 2004 launched a "Campaign Against the Plastic Plague," with the goal of eliminating single-use throwaway plastic containers, particularly plastic bags. Students in 16 high schools have formed Earth Resource youth clubs to tackle environmental projects that include cleaning up their campus. The Newport Harbor High club got its school to eliminate polystyrene foam (often referred to as styrofoam) from the food service; now students are working to convince nearby cities to ban polystyrene. "We're teaching environmental responsibility where you live, work, and play," says Lindsey Payne, the group's campaign coordinator.

"The public is way, way out in front of the government on this one," Moore says. "If the people lead, the leaders will follow, but we've got a lot of leading to do."

On another front in the growing citizens' war against plastic is Californians Against Waste, an environmental research and advocacy group that spearheaded the passage of California's bottle bill, which imposed a deposit fee on beverage containers and has reclaimed nearly 200 billion containers since its passage in 1986. "We're encouraging manufacturers to play a greater role to reduce waste from plastic bags and containers," says executive director Mark Murray. The group is asking manufacturers and retailers to commit to cutting plastic waste in half by reducing the amount of plastic produced and by recycling.

Monetary incentives are also being tried, and some have proven effective in reducing use and encouraging recycling. Ireland levied a 15-cent tax on plastic bags in 2002 and within the first five months saw their use cut by 90 percent as people switched to reusable bags. In California, a statewide fee on plastic bags and disposable cups was proposed in 2003, but the bill, by Assemblyman Paul Koretz, never made it out of committee. In San Francisco, the Department of the Environment in 2002 proposed a 17-cent-per-bag fee, to be paid by shoppers, but when that met with strong objections, the city signed an agreement with several large supermarket chains to reduce the number of all grocery bags distributed by 10 million a year by the end of 2006. If this target isn't reached, the city will reconsider the bag fee.