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While there are trash monitoring protocols for waterways and shorelines, less attention is paid to plans for addressing trash along urban streets. Marine debris education, activities and messaging are predominantly geared toward coastal areas, leaving out urban areas. 

Hawai‘i Marine Animal Response (HMAR) produced these resources as a part of “A Community Approach to Addressing and Preventing Derelict Recreational Fishing Gear,” a project supp

“Plastic Pollution and You,” published by New York Sea Grant, is a 15-lesson curriculum focused on marine debris sources, impacts, and solutions. These hands-on lessons and activities help students learn the different types of plastics, their impact on marine and freshwater ecosystems, and about ways to address and prevent plastic pollution.

Marine debris is a pervasive, global problem and one that is felt locally in the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI).

Washed Ashore, in partnership with the NOAA Marine Debris Program, developed an integrated arts marine debris curriculum to educate school students about marine debris.

Nature’s Academy created this Standards-Based Curriculum as part of their Science Literacy Project, part of an effort supported by the NOAA Marine Debris Program.

Hawaiʻi Wildlife Fund created this Marine Debris Keiki (Children) Education & Outreach curriculum for grades K-5 as part of a project supported by the NOAA Marine Debris Program.

Developed as a means to educate the next generation about ocean trash and, most importantly, how we all can prevent it. Created through an educational partnership between Ocean Conservancy and the NOAA Marine Debris Program. Flexible curriculum, appropriate for all ages.

Students will learn about the efforts of private organizations and individuals, both locally and nationally, to prevent marine debris and take steps to become involved in a stewardship activity.

The students will research, write, and create materials to educate the community about marine debris – its sources, impacts, and solutions. Students will share their research by creating a web site, newspaper, podcast, or television show (depending on the resources available at your school).

After gaining a better understanding of types and volumes of waste discarded in the U.S. and how much of that is recovered, students get into groups and create a Public Service Announcement (PSA) designed to educate the public about single-use plastics and mitigating marine debris. The PSA can be a skit, video or poster.

This lesson includes discussions and activities meant to help students process and analyze their cleanup experience. Students will reflect on the strangest trash item collected and tell the story of its journey to the cleanup site using a medium of their choice (writing, drawing, skits, etc.).

Students will draw connections between land-based debris and its travel to the ocean through exploration and understanding of watersheds. Through these activities, students will:

Students synthesize what they have learned about marine debris and incorporate their knowledge into a presentation or display that helps others both 1) understand the problem and 2) take actions that contribute to solving the problem.

Students engineer an artistic and sturdy item from single-use plastics that might otherwise end up in landfills or as marine debris, effectively removing these plastics from the waste stream. This activity is available for Grades 4-5, 6-8, and 9-12, within the "Solutions" unit.