“Mr. Mayor” Star Ted Danson Calls On Communities To Help Stop Plastic Pollution

This Public Service Announcement stars actor, ocean activist and Oceana Board Member Ted Danson emphasizing the dangers of ocean plastic pollution and calling on viewers to advocate for their local government to pass policies to help address the crisis. Danson stars as the fictional mayor of Los Angeles in the new NBC original comedy “Mr. Mayor” which airs Thursday nights on NBC. 

“The plastics being dumped into our oceans are harming sea turtles, whales, birds, and other marine life. I think we can all agree that saving these amazing animals is worth ditching plastics,” Danson said in the PSA. “Go to Oceana.org to find out how you and your local government can help make the world’s oceans a better place for us all.”

Scientists now estimate that 15 million metric tons of plastic floods into the ocean every year. That equates to about two garbage trucks’ worth of plastic entering the ocean every minute. The U.S. plays a significant role in this global problem, generating more plastic waste than any other country, according to a 2020 study. Plastic has been found in every corner of the world’s oceans, floating on the surface to its deepest depth in the Mariana Trench. With plastic production growing at a rapid rate, increasing amounts of plastic can be expected to flood our blue planet with devastating consequences.

“Plastic pollution is a human-created problem with a human-powered solution. We must turn off the tap on the deluge of throwaway plastic being produced and polluting our oceans, and that’s exactly what Oceana’s campaigns are doing,” said Andrew Sharpless, CEO of Oceana. “In the last year alone, municipalities like Tampa, Florida and Montgomery County, Maryland and the state of New York passed Oceana-supported reductions in single-use plastics. In the U.S. Congress, first-of-its-kind legislation was introduced, which would shift the burden of plastic pollution away from consumers like you and me and onto plastic producers. Together, with our allies and grassroots supporters, Oceana is winning policies that reduce plastic pollution at its source.”

Oceana is addressing this crisis by encouraging companies to take action to reduce plastic production and offer plastic-free choices, and by winning legislation that will reduce single-use plastics in strategic coastal countries around the world. To learn more about Oceana’s campaign to stop plastic pollution and how you can help, visit oceana.org/plastics. To tell your local elected officials to protect our oceans and marine life from plastic pollution, click here.