They teamed up and used the Marine Debris Tracker app to collect litter data to try and identify the biggest litter concern on their campus. Collectively the group picked up 798 pieces of litter in less than an hour!
After using the app, interns were able to see the direct impact of their efforts using the ZeroLitter Map. They realized how many plastic food wrappers end up on the ground instead of being disposed of properly in garbage bins. Many students expressed how alarming it was to have collected so many pieces of litter in such a short time.
Here’s what one student had to say about using the Marine Debris Tracker app:
“When me and other members were cleaning the school, the app itself was easy to use and really helped show us how much trash we picked up. I’ve never used the app before but it came in handy when doing a clean up for our community. Anybody who downloads the Marine Debris Tracker app has access to it for free. The majority of the things me and my peers picked up included candy wrappers, chip bags, and other plastics. The total litter collected from my group was 108 pieces. The app is called the “Marine Debris Tracker” because trash surrounded around us can still end up in the ocean. This activity inspires me to do more to help out my community since others won’t. Anyone can learn how to use the Marine Debris Tracker app because it’s simple and self-explanatory. The only trouble I had was categorizing a specific piece of trash on the list provided by the app, other than that it’s easy and very useful!”
-David Tran, Earth Team intern at Pinole Valley HS