Students Raise Their Voices in the Duwamish Valley, Washington

Who Was Involved?

From 2020-2022, Zero Waste Washington and Duwamish River Community Coalition, with the support from the NOAA Marine Debris Program, implemented a youth-led project to reduce plastic pollution. Student groups from the Duwamish Valley Youth Corp Program, a youth environmental justice program, used litter assessments to inform community education and engagement efforts specifically around marine debris and single-use plastic food packaging impacts associated with the Duwamish River.

What Action Was Taken?

Partners worked with Duwamish Valley Youth Corps students (three 12-week cohorts from April 2021 through June 2022) doing community-based education and outreach in the South Park neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. Students learned about the marine debris issues specific to their communities and video production skills. Using these skills, each cohort of students created a series of videos around a marine debris topic of their choice targeted to their local community. Learn more about the project partners and check out the students’ videos here! 

• Protecting the Environment (Educational Video)
• Wee Need to Do Our Part (PSA)
• We Have to Reuse (Music Video)
• Duwamish Valley Youth Corps Zero Waste Slideshow

The outreach and videos were informed by litter assessments in the Duwamish Valley community, impacting Puget Sound as well as endangered chinook salmon and other species. After conducting litter cleanups and learning about plastic pollution and the existing waste system, the youth conducted outreach and education activities to their community including outreach tables, door-to-door outreach, and  engaging videos. They spoke with local decision-makers about what they learned, including barriers to plastic pollution reduction and waste prevention. The project was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic and, thus, some elements had to be modified. However, by using safe distancing protocols and moving many activities to outdoor locations, the project met its outcomes and goals. 

What Was Learned?

Topics covered in the curriculum included proper recycling and sorting as well as waste prevention. During these educational sessions, the youth brainstormed the below ideas and shared them.  

• Stormwater: The youth encountered litter in the community firsthand during community litter cleanups and litter assessments. Educational sessions about stormwater helped the youth understand how the litter can travel from their community into waterways and into Puget Sound. 
• Impacts of plastic pollution in South Park: Group discussions about how plastic pollution is impacting the South Park community helped the youth brainstorm about how they can help. The youth discussed that it is important to reduce plastic pollution in South Park because of the community’s proximity to the Duwamish River and Puget Sound. 
• Native marine species: Presentations about Puget Sound native species helped students get more familiar with the species that benefit from their hard work throughout the program. Group activities and discussions encouraged the youth to think about what they can do to help these native species. 
• Marine debris: Educational sessions and guest presentations about marine debris helped students understand the main issue they were working on improving. Combined with experiences from community litter cleanups, presentations about the effects of marine debris helped the students understand the impact of marine debris on the Duwamish River and Puget Sound.

This marine debris education project worked to help prevent future debris from making its way into Pacific Northwest coastal waters and to cultivate our next generation of marine stewards.

Learn More!

Interested in supporting students in your community to create videos to raise awareness about marine debris prevention? Check out these lessons to turn learning into action, all available on the NOAA Marine Debris Program website! Many of these lessons are part of larger curricular units that can also help students get a better understanding of the issue of marine debris and its impacts. 

• An Educator's Guide to Marine Debris, Lesson Eight: The Solution to Pollution
  • 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.
• Trash Shouldn’t Splash Toolkit, Public Outreach Materials
  • These materials can support student groups doing informal outreach, including tabling events, as well as reaching out to local decision-makers on topics to prevent marine debris. 
• Turning the Tide on Trash, Communicating for a Clean Future
  • 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). This community education effort can be used in conjunction with an actual litter cleanup day, a beach cleanup, a storm sewer stenciling activity, or other community event.
• Washed Ashore Integrated Arts Marine Debris Curriculum, Culmination
  • In this culminating lesson of a creative marine debris art curriculum, students take the opportunity to spread the message of marine debris prevention by sharing what they’ve learned. Using mosaic masks made of repurposed debris items, students can display the masks and write out messages, put them on the stage and share their messages with the school, or use them to present what was learned to the larger community at a local event!
• Plastic Pollution and You, Create Your Own Outreach Campaign
  • Students will learn about public outreach campaigns and the communication tools that are used to educate and encourage the public to change their behavior. Students will then utilize their creative talents to explore and develop a component of an outreach campaign to educate consumers about New York State’s Bag Waste Reduction Law.
• Winged Ambassadors, Campus Debris Survey
  • In this lesson, students will go outdoors and examine the potential sources of marine debris on their own campuses. They will analyze what they find and create a campaign to educate other students about marine debris and our own behaviors.