Schools Against Plastics

The goal of Schools Against Plastics (SAP) project is to engage primary schools to use science against plastic pollution. The SAP project acquires data on plastic litter (microplastics and plastic debris) in two coasts of different human pressure and geographical characteristics, by training citizen scientists (primary school students) and promoting knowledge transfer between local communities. The present project considers the limitations in research capabilities of remote communities and will be complemented by the knowledge and infrastructure transfer enabled by the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (HCMR) institution. This project will demonstrate the potential for acquisition of data on the abundance of microplastics (MPs) and marine litter in Greek coastal areas through citizen science and will promote awareness and scientific research.
HCMR provided the schools with the SAP toolkit that consists of the required tools for quality analysis of the abundance of MPs in sand beaches, biota and macro-litter beach monitoring. The HCMR team provides guidelines and easy-to-follow protocols based on standardized methodologies. The MPs in sand and the macro-plastic are analyzed on the site or at each school’s laboratory by students and teachers, while the biota are appropriately sampled and shipped to HCMR for further analysis. The sampling will occur twice a year, an autumn and a spring event. The SAP kit will enable the students to “become scientists for a year” but also, upon schools’ availability, the students will continue to monitor their adopted beach.
The acquired data will be available to public, academics and regulators in an open data depository. Before the end of the school year, students at both schools will be able to present their findings and discuss impact of plastic pollution in our oceans via webinars. Presenting the findings at each local community will also trigger conversation, raise awareness and engage the public for effectively reduce marine litter.
The engagement of the members of the wider community in research projects, also known as “citizen science,” has been proven as a powerful tool employed in surveys and monitoring programs that can be crucial for the establishment of the abundance of MPs and macro-sized plastic litter in the marine environment. The SAP project will facilitate monitoring data collection that can enable the assessment of the effectiveness of waste management plans, decisions making and development of strategies towards a better management of waste in coastal areas. Additionally, by actively involving school pupils in MP and plastic litter monitoring, the students improve their knowledge on marine litter, and comprehend the scientific and societal context of plastic pollution. SAP promotes science in these challenging times and provide valuable baseline data that can be used for plastic waste management in a worldwide level.