Under the leadership of the Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative (MRCTI), the mayors of the Mississippi River - in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the University of Georgia - are working on an initiative to combat plastic pollution along one of the world’s greatest waterways.
Through this initiative, thousands of community volunteers are collecting data along the upper, middle and lower Mississippi River to increase our understanding of the state of plastic pollution. This data is being generated through a ‘citizen science’ approach using a free mobile app for tracking upstream and coastal litter called the Debris Tracker.
Initial data collection kicked off in April 2021 in three pilot cities: Baton Rouge, LA; St. Louis, MO; St. Paul, MN. Working with Mayors, partners, educators and hundreds of boots on the ground - over 75,000 items were catalogued in these three cities with the Debris Tracker. The complete results from this first round of data collection are now available in our 2021 Science Report, available here.
Additional data collection took place in the Quad Cities throughout October 2021. Final results from this second phase of the initiative are captured in a regional Quad Cities report. Bettendorf, IA; Davenport, IA; East Moline, IL; Moline, IL; Riverdale, IA; Rock Island, IL and Coal Valley, IL.supported this second round of data collection.
Data collection most recently wrapped up in the Mississippi Delta Region in Rosedale and Greenville, Mississippi in June 2022 with support from Mayor Thomas and Mayor Simmons. Over 6,400 items were catalogued during this phase. Read the report here.
Interested in doing data collection on your own? Learn how you can be a part of the solution and use the Debris Tracker to document plastic litter in your own area. Trainings on use of this app can be found in the Mississippi River Knowledge Hub, along with educational guides and resources, made with support from the National Geographic Society, to inform effective data collection.
Each of the partners involved in this effort play a unique and critical role in reducing marine debris along the Mississippi River Valley area. Learn more about their roles in this initiative.
