The headline reads: “Ben Lecomte leaves Japan headed for San Francisco 5500 miles away, swimming through shark infested waters and the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.” At 30 miles a day, that’s a six-month trip, hoping to bring attention to the oceans, which are drowning in plastic. A quote from National Geographic reads, “We made it, we depend on it, we’re drowning in it.” Plastic is everywhere. I see it flying in the breeze and caught in the trees, snagged by fences, and strewn along the highways, byways and waterways.

Since only 25 percent can be easily recycled, and most people choose to disc...