To the Editor:

Re “More Cities Crack Down on Drinking Straws in Campaign Against Plastic Waste” (news article, March 4):

Your article on the international movement to ban straws and other single-use plastic food service items reflects what our eyes and the science tell us: Ocean plastic pollution is everywhere, it threatens the health of wildlife and it is finding its way onto our dinner plates.

Nearly 700 species have been affected by marine trash, most of which is plastic, including every species of sea turtle, and more than half of all whales, dolphins, porpoises and seabirds. By 2050, over 90 percent of Earth’s seabirds will have ingested plastic. Ocean plastic pollution also concentrates toxins in the water, which find their way into marine food webs. With more than one billion people depending on protein from the ocean, what are the human health implications?

Twenty-two public aquariums across the United States have eliminated straws and shopping bags, and will tackle plastic beverage bottles by 2020. We are driving market demand for innovative alternatives to single-use plastic. At the Monterey Bay Aquarium, our food service operations are nearly 100 percent free of single-use plastic.

It’s clear: The solution to plastic pollution is in our hands.

JULIE PACKARD, MONTEREY, CALIF.

The writer is executive director and co-founder of the Monterey Bay Aquarium.