School cafeterias offer students daily lunch choices, but school-provided meals can generate serious waste. Students in rural northeast Michigan took a closer look at their lunchroom waste as part of a “Food for Thought” project led by the Northeast Michigan Great Lakes Stewardship Initiative, the Community Foundation for Northeast Michigan, and Michigan State University Extension. They performed a lunch waste audit to investigate their lunchroom trash and to brainstorm solutions that prevent plastics from becoming marine debris in the Great Lakes ecosystem.

Americans are using their local green space and parks more than ever. Getting outside is not only good for your physical health, but also your mental health. That is why National Public Lands Day feels even more special this year. This day celebrates the connection between people and public lands in their community and encourages environmental stewardship and the use of open space. 

As students and teachers prepare for a new year of learning, we are sharing educational marine debris resources that highlight the problem in different locations and different languages. Marine debris is a constant and challenging threat to communities all over the world. It can travel on currents across the ocean, reach remote shorelines where very few people live, and cause major problems for both people and wildlife. No matter where you live, it's important for us all to understand the problem.

Many things look different in our world right now: most people are working from home, our favorite restaurants and beaches are closed, and students finished off the school year online. So, where does that leave Turtle Trash Collectors, a University of North Carolina Wilmington MarineQuest outreach program funded by the NOAA Marine Debris Program?

People all over the world are concerned about marine debris and they would like to know more about it. The NOAA Marine Debris Program’s Communications Team responds to those questions we receive through email, and we’ve seen a trend. Following the National Ocean Services theme of Ocean Trivia for this week, we have created our own marine debris “trivia questions” that we hope you enjoy!

Locally sourced seafood is particularly important for island communities as they depend on the ocean for food and economic opportunities. This connects the health of the marine environment with overall public health. Such is the case in American Samoa, where local seafood is regularly consumed and where marine debris, including microplastics, has been identified as a priority pollutant.

You don’t need to live by the coast or the Great Lakes to learn about marine debris. The NOAA Marine Debris Program (MDP) has free activities, videos, and more available online. On the MDP website, there is a dedicated section with resources and activities for all ages, where you can view activity books and browse lesson plans.

Students in Prince George’s County, Maryland are leading the way in marine debris prevention and cleanup in their community. Through the Alice Ferguson Foundation’s Watershed Leadership Program (WLP), more than 400 students from seven local high schools have learned about plastic pollution and executed school-based action plans to prevent marine debris.

The days are getting shorter and cooler, and soon teachers and students alike must say goodbye to the lazy, hazy days of summer. The new school year can be a new beginning, so why not take this time to build some better habits in the classroom? If you want to reduce the amount of waste your class produces, a great way to start is to understand what you already throw away and recycle. Figure out how much waste your class creates through a trash audit!

We are proud to announce the release of the Marine Debris Monitoring Toolkit for Educators, created through a collaborative effort between the NOAA Marine Debris Program (MDP) and the NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries. This Toolkit translates the MDP’s Marine Debris Monitoring and Assessment Project, a robust citizen science initiative, for classroom use. 

The Marine Debris Monitoring Toolkit for Educators is available for free download on the NOAA Marine Debris Program website.