Reduction of Marine Litter

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Reduction of Marine Litter

Status: Completed
Operational Plan: 2021
Project Duration: 30 months
Start date: November 2021

Marine litter is a growing problem that negatively affects economies, threatens ecosystems, and poses a potential risk to human health. It is estimated that 80% of marine litter originates from land-based sources, often due to the improper disposal of items or uncollected waste that becomes litter and travels through watersheds to the oceans. Previous work included the development of guidance and engagement tools to reduce marine litter in inland communities. Building on this past work, the current project aims to build public awareness about marine litter, deploy litter capture devices, collect comparable data across the three countries. This project will reduce land-based marine litter, including single-use plastic products and packaging, in communities located inland along waterways and river systems in North America.

To find out more about this project, here is the complete project description.

Issues

Marine litter is a global problem impacting ecosystems and economies
Public awareness of inland sources of marine litter is needed to spur community action to address marine litter

Aim

We are working to prevent marine litter by demonstrating, educating, and communicating about the flow of marine litter from inland communities to the marine environment.

Deliverables

Trash capture devices deployed in three North American communities
Community science activities to engage local communities in marine litter reduction
Public awareness campaign to communicate the problem of land-based marine litter

Principal results

This project helped prevent and reduce land-based marine litter by using engagement and communication tools and campaigns to raise awareness about the presence and effects of marine litter in selected inland communities along waterways in North America. By collecting information on the amount and type of waste found in the waterways, bringing attention to local sources of litter captured in deployed trash traps, and sharing this information in open meetings, the communities were empowered to develop local action plans for land-based marine litter reduction. Other communities can replicate these actions to prevent or reduce litter locally by applying the Community Engagement Toolkit and “Last Stop: The Ocean.” These public awareness campaign materials were developed as part of this project and made publicly available online.