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Oceans

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Plastic “nurdles” are polluting our waterways

One of the biggest challenges facing the modern world is one most people don't know about and often can't even see. It's the problem presented by nurdles, trillions of small plastic pellets produced by petrochemical giants. Leftover pellets have been escaping into waterways and oceans for decades, but only lately has serious action been taken to figure out what can be done. That includes a monumental settlement in Texas, where Jeff Glor traveled to ground zero for this issue.

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The last straw: Seattle's drinking straw ban

Millions of plastic drinking straws end up as litter, often in the oceans, which is why this summer Seattle became the largest city in America to ban plastic straws in restaurants, to be replaced with compostable or paper options. Tony Dokoupil talks with anti-straw advocates fighting the preponderance of single-use plastic in a throwaway culture, and with representatives of the food service industry in search of alternatives that will be easy for consumers to swallow.

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