Information + Advocacy to Reduce Plastic Pollution

This blog post was written by Clara Brown, a 2024 EarthEcho Marine Plastics Ambassador.

Water sources and wetlands, and terrestrial and aquatic species, can be negatively impacted by plastic pollution. This issue affects rural and remote locations, not just urban centers. Communication can connect communities with information that will help them understand the importance of protecting their environment. Policy initiatives can convey to decision makers that the issue is important to local constituents. Access to information that is tailored to, and relevant for, a specific community's needs will increase the likelihood of meaningful change.

Plastic found by Clara in local waterways.

‍Project Goals

Generate educational materials to raise awareness, and build capacity on how individuals can take practical action and help inform rural community leaders on actions they can take to reduce environmental pollution.

Project specifications

Generate educational materials to raise awareness. Generate position papers to help inform community leaders on the links between international proceedings with impacts for their constituency. Provide information in accessible ways (local social media platforms, community websites, and newsletter features). Increase sustainable production and consumption and recycling initiatives.

Image of Clara on one of her site visits conducted around the regional watershed, gathering and sharing information. Over 50 locations were engaged throughout the region, a UNESCO World Heritage watershed.

Project Milestones:

  1. Resource creation and curation – A dedicated project email account, Linktree, and website were created and coded in HTML and CSS using Replit. Resources were researched and curated on Linktree.
  1. Social media outreach campaign – In addition to the Linktree, social media accounts were created. Followers positively engaged and interacted.  
  1. Resource distribution – Site visits were conducted around the regional watershed, gathering and sharing information. Over 50 locations were engaged throughout the region, a UNESCO World Heritage watershed.
  1. Outreach to community and local/regional leadership and beyond – A meeting was held at a municipal office about information gathering and relevant decision making, and site visits to the municipal recycling transfer station conducted. Research into waterway pollution collection methods in the UK on the Thames River was conducted on site.

You can help support this work by building your knowledge with credible, informed sources, talking to your local, regional and national representatives, and sharing your knowledge.

Learn more about this project at Clara’s linktree: https://linktr.ee/plasticadvocacy