Student Voices

Eckerd College and the University of North Florida will foster long-term behavior change among undergraduate students to reduce single-use plastic consumption.

Type of Project: Prevention

Region: Florida

Project Dates: September 2020 - February 2023

Who is involved?
With the support of the NOAA Marine Debris Program, Eckerd College and the University of North Florida will reduce single-use plastic consumption and foster long-term pro-environmental behaviors among undergraduates by integrating education and outreach initiatives with Plastic Reduction Challenges. By reducing the consumption of single-use plastic, this project will also reduce the production of marine debris, especially in coastal areas.

What is the project and why is it important?
College students are typically away from home and making their own purchasing decisions for the first time. Encouraging behavioral changes, such as rejecting single-use plastics, during such a shift in lifestyle can lead to a lifetime of maintaining the habit. Eckerd College and the University of North Florida will use formal and informal education as well as outreach opportunities to raise awareness about marine debris on-campus and while at home, facilitate understanding of the connections between individual actions and impacts in the marine environment, and encourage behavior change. 

Students will participate in week-long Plastic Reduction Challenges, where they use an innovative smartphone app to log each use and refusal of single-use plastic, and receive real-time feedback on their behavior. This will lead to increased individual accountability and commitment to reducing plastic waste and marine debris. Eckerd College and the University of North Florida will use the data collected from the app, as well as student surveys, to further our understanding of single-use plastic consumption on university campuses.

For more information about this project, visit the Marine Debris Program Clearinghouse.

The Community Foundation for Northeast Michigan and Northeast Michigan Great Lakes Stewardship Initiative are leading "Food for Thought," a project engaging 500 youth in grades 3-12 in Northeast Michigan to reduce waste produced in school lunchrooms.

Type of Project: Prevention

Region: Great Lakes

Project Dates: September 2020 - August 2022

Who is involved?
With support from the NOAA Marine Debris Program, the Community Foundation for Northeast Michigan and the Northeast Michigan Great Lakes Stewardship Initiative will lead efforts to engage 500 youth in Northeast Michigan. Working directly with teachers and the Michigan State University Extension, students will examine the waste they find in their communities and school, and then develop potential solutions to reduce waste and ultimately prevent marine debris.

What is the project and why is it important?
Waste from everyday activities can be a significant source of marine debris, whether at home or at school. School lunchrooms often use a large amount of single-use plastics, including lunch trays, plastic utensils, plastic bags, and straws, and litter on the school yard can be blown, swept, or washed into local waterways, the ocean, and Great Lakes. 

Through this project, the Community Foundation for Northeast Michigan and the Northeast Michigan Great Lakes Stewardship Initiative will engage 500 youth in grades 3-12 in Northeast Michigan in reducing waste produced in their schools. Teachers and their students will begin with a shoreline cleanup in which they will evaluate the types of trash collected. Students will also carry out a scientific investigation on the lifestyle choices people make that generate marine debris, including within their own school lunchrooms. They will record the waste produced, then investigate changes their school could make to reduce lunchroom waste. Students will learn about the impact each type of waste produced in their school has on the Great Lakes environment. They will then present their findings, including the solutions they propose, to their peers, teachers, administrators, and the school board. Through their investigations, youth will become Marine Debris Prevention Ambassadors, sharing information with their families, peers, and the community to encourage other marine debris prevention efforts.

For more information about this project, visit the Marine Debris Program Clearinghouse.

Salem Sound Coastwatch is working with high school interns to develop effective community-based social marketing messages and launch a “CoastSmart” restaurant campaign to reduce the use of single-use plastics. 

Type of Project: Prevention

Region: Northeast

Project Dates: September 2020 - August 2022

Who is involved?
With support from the NOAA Marine Debris Program, Salem Sound Coastwatch, in partnership with Girls Inc., and Salem Public Schools, is developing projects for high school interns in Salem and Lynn, Massachusetts. These projects include a CoastSmart Restaurant Campaign that works with local restaurants by providing more reusable options in their takeout packaging, producing educational videos about composting, developing a single-use plastic reduction ad campaign, and creating an inventory of existing cigarette butt collection efforts to measure effectiveness. 

What is the project and why is it important?
As discovered nationwide and proven by data collected by Salem Sound Coastwatch over the years, restaurants and their customers are a large source of marine debris. The trash produced may include food wrappers, takeout containers, bottle caps and lids, straws and utensils, bottles and cans, bags, plates and cups, six-pack holders, miscellaneous packaging materials, and all micro-sized debris. Cigarette butts are also commonly found types of debris during cleanups.

Salem Sound Coastwatch and their partners are engaging a diverse population of youth in community-based social marketing research and service projects that address these marine debris issues in their communities. Project staff and high school students are working to reduce the amount of single-use plastics and cigarette butts that begin as street litter and end up on beaches and in the ocean. This project combines the best techniques from previously established programs and develops effectively tailored bilingual, Spanish and English, messaging for the unique commercial and residential populations of Salem and Lynn, Massachusetts. Partners recruited groups of high school interns in Salem and Lynn, who are executing service projects, presenting their projects’ progress, and engaging with their communities to help reduce marine debris. These efforts will include a CoastSmart Restaurant campaign, aimed at asking restaurants to commit to “green practices” such as providing more reusable or biodegradable options in their takeout packaging, composting, or improving their waste management.

For more information about this project, visit the Marine Debris Program Clearinghouse.

The Alice Ferguson Foundation is expanding its current marine debris focused education programming to engage secondary students in Prince George’s County, Maryland around the issue of marine debris and litter prevention in their schools and communities.

Type of Project: Marine Debris Prevention Grant

Region: Mid-Atlantic

Project Dates: August 2018 - July 2021

Who is involved?
With the support of a NOAA Marine Debris Program Prevention Grant, the Alice Ferguson Foundation (AFF) will conduct a two-year pilot project that will engage 400 students and 16 teachers from eight schools in Prince George’s County, Maryland and within the Anacostia River watershed. A strong focus will be on schools that are part of the County’s Transforming Communities Initiative, an effort to boost quality of life in targeted neighborhoods by improving economic, health, public safety and educational outcomes.

What is the project and why is it important?
Alice Ferguson Foundation will build off an existing project working with 5th graders through the Trash Free Maryland Schools Program to develop and deliver its Watershed Leadership Program (WLP). Through multiple classroom visits, student-led action projects, and a peer-to-peer mentorship program with local elementary school students, the WLP will reduce littering behavior by helping Prince George’s County students connect to and understand their local watershed, recognize the impacts of their waste and litter, and empower them to be student leaders on marine debris prevention.

Utilizing community-based social marketing techniques, the project will focus on secondary school students (6th-12th grade) as its target audience, especially Latino students, with a strong emphasis on the involvement of the students in the development of resources, strategies and action projects.These students will implement eight student-led action projects and lead eight schoolyard cleanups. As part of the preparation for the WLP, staff will translate AFF’s proven Trash Free Schools guidebook into Spanish, with the goal of including additional audiences. The project leaders will also create and refine workforce development activities to increase students’ knowledge and skills to prepare them for environmentally-focused careers.

For more information about this project, visit the Marine Debris Program Clearinghouse.

Even during this challenging time when many are at home, our waste can still become marine debris. We want your help to raise awareness about the global problem of marine debris, especially in the Great Lakes. We’re looking for original and inspiring art from students in coastal Ohio to help encourage others to be part of the marine debris solution.

Eligibility
All students in grades 6-12 from the Lake Erie region of Ohio enrolled in recognized public, private, and home schools are eligible to participate. Schools, including home schools, must be in compliance with federal and state civil rights and nondiscrimination statutes. We also encourage organizations and clubs that are not affiliated with schools to participate (e.g., Scouts, 4-H). Students may work individually or in a group of no more than 4 students with an adult in a leadership role. Each individual or group of students may only submit one entry. There is no limitation on the number of entries a teacher/adult, classroom, school, or organization may submit.

For a complete list of contest rules, download the Contest Rules & Information document, located under the "Resources" box.

Criteria
After learning about marine debris in the ocean and Great Lakes and how we all may be contributing with our trash, students will create marine debris artwork from repurposed trash, which will focus on Lake Erie wildlife! All entries must meet the requirements below:

• There should be 1 to 4 students per entry; Groups should have no more than 4 students
• Artwork must be made primarily of repurposed trash from the waste at home or school, such as clean plastic, metal, or paper. The exception to this rule would be the base the artwork stands on.
• Art should focus on the theme of Lake Erie wildlife
• Art must be less than 2ft x 2ft in size and able to stand on its own, if necessary
• Be creative! Different types of artwork (e.g., sculpture, diorama, mural, likeness, mixed media) are all encouraged.
• Any electrical elements should run off of battery and no hazardous materials should be used
• Avoid any licensed characters, brand and product names, as well as licensed music in the artwork (i.e., hide product names on debris items)
• Students and leaders need to submit:
  • One 750 word summary per group. The essay should focus on what they learned about marine debris, how they evaluated the waste they produced, and how they can personally make changes to the amount of waste they produce.
  • Entry Form
  • Picture(s) of the artwork
  • Student Releases for each student

Students are highly encouraged to check out the NOAA Marine Debris Program's website for information about marine debris, and teachers are encouraged to use the “Trash Tracker” curriculum as a resource (An Educator’s Guide to Marine Debris - pages 22-24). We’ve also provided a recorded presentation and alternative waste tracking worksheet for those that may be learning virtually.

Entries (entry form, essay, picture of artwork, and student releases) should be emailed to sarah.lowe@noaa.gov by 11:59pm April 15th, 2022.

If you have any questions, please contact either bixler.42@osu.edu or Sarah.Lowe@noaa.gov

Donating & Sponsoring Organizations

• NOAA Marine Debris Program
• Ohio Sea Grant
• The Ohio State University F.T. Stone Laboratory
• Ohio Congressional District 9 (Rep. Marcy Kaptur)
• Cedar Point Amusement Park 
• Lake Erie Charter Boat Association
• Miller Ferry Boat Line

This contest was created in 2016 in partnership with the NOAA Marine Debris Program, Ohio Sea Grant/OSU Stone Laboratory, and Ohio Congressional District 9 (Rep. Marcy Kaptur).