Mississippi River Plastic Pollution Initiative
300
KG LITTER REMOVED - MISSISSIPI
75,184
ITEMS TRACKED
Over
3
MILLION ITEMS TRACKED AROUND THE GLOBE
The Mississippi River is America’s most essential inland waterway, providing billions of gallons of fresh water to key industries and drinking water to 20 million people in 50 cities every day. Marine debris, including plastic pollution, continuously enters the Mississippi River and poses a large threat to environmental quality and ecosystem health.
Through Mississippi River Plastic Pollution Initiative, thousands of community volunteers have collected data along the upper, middle and lower Mississippi River to increase our understanding of the state of plastic pollution along the river. Data is collected through a ‘citizen science’ approach using a free and open-source mobile app for tracking upstream and coastal litter called the Marine Debris Tracker. This data is being used to generate a critical baseline which decision-makers, in both the private and public sectors, can use to guide and evaluate their efforts to reduce plastic pollution and to ultimately inspire effective policy action.
Under the leadership of the Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative (MRCTI), the mayors of the Mississippi River, in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the National Geographic Society and the University of Georgia have launched an initiative to combat plastic pollution along one of the world’s greatest waterways. This initiative will generate a first-ever snapshot of the state of plastic pollution along the river.
Up to 80% of the plastic in oceans originates from land-based sources. Plastic waste and other litter travels through storm drains and smaller waterways into the Mississippi River and its tributaries—the drainage system for 40% of the United States—and ultimately makes its way to the Gulf of Mexico and into the ocean. However, there are very few snapshots or baselines of the actual state of plastic litter along the river’s banks.
This initiative is intended to address this gap by finding the right balance between scientific rigor and the feasibility of data collection. The goal is to generate as rich a picture as possible of the extent, type and brand of plastic litter along the river within a small amount of time.