The University of Notre Dame Australia, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Business and Law, National School of Arts and Sciences, Fremantle, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
The University of Notre Dame Australia, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Business and Law, National School of Arts and Sciences, Fremantle, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
Mar Pollut Bull. 2022 Apr;177:113519. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.113519. Epub 2022 Mar 9.
Despite the global implementation of plastic waste reduction policies and bans on single use plastics (SuPs), their effectiveness for protecting marine ecosystems remains unclear. Frequent monitoring could confirm policy effectiveness, but this is difficult due to resourcing and logistic constraints. This study tested a 'beach litter' beachcombing citizen science approach that could overcome some constraints. Between November 2018 and January 2021, 168 beach visits led to the collection of 12,659 pieces of litter from a beach in Western Australia. Litter was predominantly plastic (87%) and mostly associated with fishing/boating (34%). Significant reductions in six types of litter, including fishing/boating items, balloons, and straws were detected and four coincided with local government waste mitigation measures. We show potential to harness conscientious beachcombers as citizen scientists to help evaluate plastic policy impact. Furthermore, we propose how to harness this effort and increase spatial and temporal coverage of marine plastic pollution monitoring.
尽管全球实施了减少塑料废物和禁止一次性塑料（SuPs）的政策，但它们在保护海洋生态系统方面的有效性仍不清楚。频繁的监测可以确认政策的有效性，但由于资源和物流方面的限制，这是困难的。本研究测试了一种“海滩垃圾”海滩拾荒者公民科学方法，该方法可以克服一些限制。2018 年 11 月至 2021 年 1 月期间，对澳大利亚西部的一个海滩进行了 168 次海滩访问，共收集了 12659 件垃圾。垃圾主要是塑料（87%），主要与渔业/划船（34%）有关。六种垃圾（包括渔具、气球和吸管）的数量显著减少，其中四项与地方政府减少废物的措施相符。我们展示了利用有责任心的海滩拾荒者作为公民科学家来帮助评估塑料政策影响的潜力。此外，我们还提出了如何利用这一努力，增加海洋塑料污染监测的空间和时间覆盖范围。
