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Infographic: Americans throw away 2.5 million plastic bottles every hour

Just think about it: every single piece of plastic that has ever been produced in history still exists.
Written by Andrew Nusca, Contributor

Just think about it: every single piece of plastic that has ever been produced in history still exists.

We talk a lot about sustainable business here on SmartPlanet, but it's never more evident for the manufacturers of plastic products that something needs to change.

A new video by GOOD and TakePart.com explains just how much plastic is lying around the Earth -- much of it in our oceans.

While the video takes a decidedly environmental bent, it's important to think about all the industries that manufacture plastic on some level. Surely it can't be easy to formulate that company-wide sustainability report at the end of the year.

(On the flip side, there's a big opportunity to be had if someone can figure out how to use plastic for something more productive.)

A related infographic, also from GOOD: Of the $2.6 million spent by the U.S. House of Representatives on food during a nine-month period from 2009 to 2010, more than 20 percent -- $604,000 -- was spent on bottled water.

This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com

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