There has been a growing of public awareness of plastics found in the ocean environment. Plastics are found at the top and within the water column, in ocean floor sediments, and within beach material. This activity will demonstrate the ease of movement of plastics from your home directly into the ocean environment. Students will explore the typical products which contain plastics and learn how to calculate the concentration of plastics found in a chosen personal care product.

Environmental law may be the one institution standing between us and planetary exhaustion. It is also an institution that needs to be reconciled with human liberty and economic aspirations. This course considers these issues and provides a tour though existing legal regimes governing pollution, water law, endangered species, toxic substances, environmental impact analyses, and environmental risk.

Ferreira's project used a novel, but effective methodology for removing ocean plastics. He used magnets to attract microplastics from water. The project found that a magnetic liquid called ferrofluid attracted the tiny plastic particles and removed them from the water. After nearly a thousand tests, his device successfully removed about 88 percent of the microplastics from water samples, according to The Irish Times.

Every year five million to 14 million tons of plastic flow into the oceans from coastal areas. And every time you brush your teeth, wash your face, or take a shower, you could be sending more microplastics down the drain." This video offers some ways that consumers can limit their use of microplastics by making informed and responsible purchases

After four years of collecting water samples, we are confident that our dataset represents the most diverse and one of the largest datasets exposing the extent of microplastic pollution around the globe. With this in hand, we have transitioned to data analysis as we seek a deeper understanding of microplastic pollution, and importantly, how our work can contribute to positive change.

The #breakfreefromplastic Movement is a global movement envisioning a future free from plastic pollution. Since its launch in 2016, more than 8,000 organizations and individual supporters from across the world have joined the movement to demand massive reductions in single-use plastics and to push for lasting solutions to the plastic pollution crisis.

Created with baby's tights, soda pop bottles, and other inexpensive and easy to find materials, Babylegs can be used to trawl for floating marine microplastics from a boat (motorized or hand-propelled). It is designed to mimic the type of samples collected by the more expensive Manta Trawl: floating microplastics less than 5mm in size. BabyLegs usually requires trawl times of 20 minutes to an hour, so is not appropriate for use by hand. If you do not have a boat and would like to check local waters for plastics, we recommend the Ice Cream Scoop, or a shoreline study.

Although trash heaps are easier to spot in waterways, microplastics - pieces of plastic smaller than five millimeters - have started to stir more concern. Acting as sponges, the pieces soak up the chemicals around them and often make their way through the food chain, ending up on dinner plates. Most microplastics are created over time from larger pieces or directly from microbeads in products like face washes or toothpaste.

Despite its prevalence, marine debris is a problem that each individual citizen can help prevent. Education is the first crucial step in mitigation. Through the use of this guide, we can help foster environmental stewardship and create advocates for the marine environment. With every person that participates in a cleanup, uses a reusable bag or water bottle, or spreads the word about marine debris, we move one step closer to creating a more beautiful and healthy marine environment.

With this resource, community members in New Orleans are invited to take part in stewardship by adopting a loca catch basin. "The City of New Orleans is working closely with residents and business owners to Adopt A Catch Basin on their block and help improve drainage conditions throughout the City. Eighty five percent of the City's clogged catch basins are full of leaves and grass clippings that can be easily and safely removed by residents like you!"