Eriksen and Cummins say the seas of plastic waste will be with us for a long time. But they believe there are solutions.

ERIKSEN: “The solutions, they don’t begin on the ocean. They begin on land.”

CUMMINS: “We also need to improve our recycling infrastructure. Here in this country, in the United States, we only recover and recycle roughly five percent of our plastics.”

Re-using plastics is one way. The husband and wife team say they support the wider use of biodegradable materials. They want more products re-designed so they can be used again and again. And they believe that people around the world need to understand the problem of plastic waste and its effect on the environment and our health. I’m Shirley Griffith.

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MARIO RITTER: You are listening to EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English.

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CHRISTOPHER CRUISE: Bee expert May Berenbaum knows that many people have an uneasy feeling about bees because they sting.

MAY BERENBAUM: “But on the other hand, people all over the world have developed a dependency on the honey bee because it is really the world’s premier managed pollinator. And here in the US, for example, over 90 crops depend on honeybees for pollination services.”

Farmers depend on bees to help them grow crops. But many bees have died in recently because of what scientists call colony collapse disorder. Berenbaum says there are many reasons for this. One is the long-distance transport of bees to pollinate crops. This has helped spread bee diseases. Another reason is the build-up of insect-killing pesticides in bee colonies. Researchers like Berenbaum are studying the problem. Yet she says all of us can help.