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After a highly competitive review process, the NOAA Marine Debris Program is proud to announce the 8 recipients of our 2022 Marine Debris Prevention awards, totaling approximately $1.7 million of funding for marine debris prevention efforts in the United States, Mexico, and the U.S.-Mexico and U.S.-Canada border areas. The projects awarded under this nationwide competitive funding opportunity continue the NOAA Marine Debris Program’s commitment to develop impactful, community-driven, and cost-effective projects that benefit coastal habitats, waterways, wildlife, and surrounding communities.
With funding provided by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) Implementation Act, the awards also represent the NOAA Marine Debris Program’s commitment to supporting the environmental goals of the USMCA, including the need to take action to prevent and reduce marine debris in order to preserve human health and marine and coastal ecosystems, prevent the loss of biodiversity, and mitigate the costs and impacts of marine debris.
The 2022 funded projects are:
Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies (Alaska, $184,168) will engage local seafood industry partners to pilot the use of cellulose-mycelium coolers, which can replace foamed plastic coolers that can contribute to marine debris. The project will also engage rural Southcentral and Alaska Native communities in exploring the feasibility of a commercial community composting facility that is able to compost the bioplastics being used by restaurants, businesses, and individuals to replace single-use plastics.
Clean Water Fund (Multi-state, $200,000) will design a formal training program for businesses, academic institutions, and government agencies in California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island to implement the ReThink Disposable program to reduce single-use food and beverage packaging waste.
One Cool Earth (California, $134,178) will work with K-12 students, in both English and Spanish, at 24 public schools in San Luis Obispo County to reduce marine debris. Students will oversee lunch time waste sorting stations and engage in campus litter cleanups, waste audits, and field trips. The project will also work with teachers and school administration to incorporate marine debris education and litter prevention practices into school district policies.
Ocean Conservancy (Florida, $361,395) will work with restaurants, cafeterias, fast food services, and convenience stores in Miami-Dade County to implement practices that help prevent marine debris. The project will also engage youth in environmental stewardship through peer-to-peer mentorship, community cleanups, and outreach to businesses to help reduce single-use plastic usage.
Parley Foundation (Hawai‘i, $250,000) will engage more than 30,000 people in learning about the importance of marine debris prevention, provide internships for underserved youth, and organize regular beach cleanups at Pokai Bay, Maunalua Bay, and Ka‘anapali Beach.
Parley Foundation (Mexico, $345,000) will engage with local hotels, restaurants, and nightclubs in Quintana Roo to implement strategies for reducing single-use plastics. The project will also develop and install 10 multilingual public information boards to increase tourists’ awareness about the impacts of marine debris and local public policies related to plastic reduction.
Texas A&M University (Texas, $71,173) will provide outreach to for-hire fishing guides and recreational saltwater anglers in Texas about actions they can take to reduce marine debris. The project will also reduce barriers to proper disposal of monofilament fishing line and single-use plastic items commonly used during recreational fishing activities.
Vermilion Sea Institute (Mexico, $154,301) will help Bahía de los Ángeles businesses transition to biodegradable takeout containers. The project will also train local youth to become debris prevention leaders in their community and promote proper waste disposal through the installation of collection stations for plastic bottles and food wrappers at local schools and tourism camping sites.