Plastic Waste: Ignorance is NOT Bliss (once you learn)

Ok, so I really am not trying to sound preachy in over the environment b/c I hate it when people act condescending about stuff like the environment, but I figure if you're reading this you are at least a little bit concerned about your waste habits. However, I found two news articles today that actually make me feel sick about the world's waste. Sick to the point of wondering how the hell we're going to fix this problem. There are billions of people in the world and I'm sure billions who don't recycle, compost or try to reduce their consumption. And these billions include companies who manufacture this detritus. It's absolutely horrible.

The first is a video from the BBC about a beach in Hawaii that's just being littered in plastic trash. Yes, Hawaii, a place that seems to you to be island paradise. Well, this is not at all paradise.

The second is a note with pictures about how plastic is becoming the diet of albatross chicks, leading to the death of thousands each year. The pictures are not for the faint of heart, showing pictures of partially decomposed bird skeletons with their stomachs full of bottle caps, lighters, door stops and other unidentifiable bits of plastic. It makes me wonder about those plastic bottle caps. This infuriates me to no end - both the fact that they're not made to be recyclable and also that recycling companies won't do it. I have no idea WHY this is the case, but it's absolutely inexcusable! There are millions of these bottles made a year and we still haven't figured out how to get rid of the caps? Christ......