NRCM Grant Providing Supplies for Coastal Cleanups
Plastic is one of the most critical pollution concerns we now face, as anybody can see at a beach cleanup, or even just walking down the sidewalk. It is almost impossible to avoid the material today, but we’re not here to shame you about how much plastic you use(d). Instead, we invite you to imagine the connection between land and sea and how plastic impacts both.
In Maine, giant boulders from a glacial past appear among the dense, tall evergreen and deciduous trees. Salt marshes, streams, and ponds mark safe havens for macroinvertebrates, amphibians, and mammals. Its jagged rocks mark the expansive coastline with its many inlets and islands. Amongst these rocks are tide pools with various types of seaweed, shellfish, crustaceans, and other interesting fragments that aren’t supposed to be there, like plastics. But how did they get there?
The Shaw Institute aims to connect environmental health and human health through innovative research and education. As one of the only research institutes with a focused microplastics research program, the Institute utilizes a Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) to study plastic pollution on a macro level. The FTIR is a hands-on tool that allows for the opportunity to create action and awareness to reduce single-use plastics and prevent them from turning into microplastics and marine debris in the environment, its impact on our ecosystem, and ways to mitigate trash from ending up in the environment.
The Shaw Institute’s Education and Outreach Coordinator, Dani Rodriguez, teamed up with local teachers Hilary Tobin and Tanya Bannon of the Brooklin Elementary School and Blue Hill Heritage Trust to conduct two beach cleanups in honor of Earth Day. Students and volunteers were equipped with gloves, trash grabbing tools, and compostable trash bags to remove debris that had washed up onto the beaches thanks to a sustainability grant from the Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM).
Fifth through eighth-grade students from the Brooklin school gathered in Brooklin, Maine, and removed pieces of trash totaling approximately 65 pounds.
In a following beach cleanup, volunteers from the area and as far as Waterville met in Surry, at Carter Nature Preserve, a property managed by Blue Hill Heritage Trust (BHHT). Approximately 35 pounds of trash were removed from the preserve, and it was a mix of small pieces of plastic, rope, and manufactured wood.
Students and volunteers helped remove debris that had washed up onto the beaches, in part due to that same sustainability grant from the NRCM.
Among the debris collected at the beach cleanup were fragments of rope, bait bags, balloons, golf balls, food wrappers, and random articles of shoes and clothing.
Identifying plastic using the FTIR, especially the small pieces, tells us the polymer type, so we can more closely determine the causes and effects. For example, common plastics like PVC and Styrofoam contain carcinogenic chemicals, so it’s important to understand what each item is made up of.
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has. Margaret Mead
Thanks to this generous grant from NRCM, this data will serve to create awareness among those visiting the Shaw Institute lobby and acknowledge the civic duty and support of the students and volunteers who removed the debris from the environment. Furthermore, the reusable supplies like gloves and trash grabbers will be reused for future beach cleanups as we work to keep the coast of Maine free of debris. It’s up to us to care about this special ecosystem and be aware of behaviors that contribute to marine debris that weren’t meant to end up in the ocean.
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