New research published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters suggests current estimates on the amount of plastic pollution accumulating in the Pacific ocean are likely much lower than what's really building up.

You can find a lot of nasty stuff in plastics used to package our foods, such as water bottles. The most notorious is BPA - short for Bisphenol A - a compound used to make plastic, which has been linked to attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and neurological disorders in fetuses, infants, and young children.

Not to mention all this plastic is polluting our planet by clogging up landfills and floating around our ocean, like the Great Pacific Garbage Patch; a giant island of trash and plastic roughly the size of Texas in the North Pacific Ocean.

But one Washington, DC supermarket is doing its part to cut out plastic, banning water bottles from sale in its six regional supermarkets.

MOM's Organic Market has launched its “Battle the Bottle” campaign, kicking plastic water bottles out of stores. And instead MOM's will be installing water filtration machines in stores, allowing shoppers to refill their own bottles for free, but only up to one gallon. The filters will be up and running in a few weeks.

A spokesperson for MOM's said, “Societies are truly addicted to plastic, much in the way we are addicted to oil.

MOM's campaign is in support of DC's anti-plastic push. The city already adds a 5-cent tax on plastic bags, which has slashed their use dramatically.

I shop with the reusable bags and when I moved I used any plastic bags I did have for box stuffing. I'm a genius!

Image credit: Ozville