Garbage in the ocean? Beaches polluted with trash? Filth in our waterways?
With facts, information and interaction, we help people break their habit of contributing to this problem.
Marine litter is a serious environmental concern the world over.  Let's listen to reason and keep our water sources healthy.

Below, two good resource guides provided by our young friend, Heather, to help others 'go green'.  Click buttons:

Click here for a fabulous 2018 resource guide with our 'thank-you' to Citizen STEM science campers for sharing the link

More plastic than fish in ocean by 2050, report warns

World Economic Forum report calls for urgent action  (January 20, 2016)   

Extent of plastics in the Mediterranean Sea: a growing problem

The European Commission sounds the alarm in this report published in November 2015.
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) wants you to get the facts
Pygmy Sperm Whale died in Halifax Harbour after eating plastic  (March 26, 2015)

Take a break from litter to stroll through an incredible open access art gallery

EDWARD BURTYNSKY, famed Canadian eco-photographer, is one of a bevy of artists highlighted at artsy.net, where global art is free to view online.
Marine and Beach Litter Project for Schools  (January 3, 2015)
PREMIERING IN BREMEN, GERMANY IN MAY 2014
Winning marine litter videos from across 14 countries in a European film competition will be screened as one of numerous activities funded by the three-year, €4.5 million, EU-funded MARLISCO project.
Marine and beach litter project for schools  (November 11,2014)
Two-year study finds some of Australia's remote beaches are most polluted  (April 11, 2014)
To be published later this year, the CSIRO study estimates more than 150 million pieces of rubbish litter Australia's sand and shore. In this article, the lead researcher describes the injury and death she has seen in wildlife from ingestion of littered plastics.

UCLA Report: Top 10 Solutions to Global Ocean Plastic Pollution 
An estimated 20 million tons of plastic litter entering the ocean each year, plastic pollution is a daunting crisis for the marine environment, one that demands action. Ideas include the creation of an “ocean friendly” certification program for plastic products and the introduction of a new international treaty with strong monitoring and enforcement mechanisms.

European Union setting firm reduction target for marine litter wants to hear from you
Public comment period is open until December 18.  Read the background here.

United Nations Environment Programme on Marine Litter and More . . .

(December 8, 2013)  UNEP is an established leader as a voice for environmental protection and global action on litter.  It fosters youth as its ambassadors.

An Expedition and Exhibition with Marine Debris as Material and Message 

(June 7, 2013)  The Anchorage Museum and Alaska SeaLife Center have partnered to bring an international team of artists, scientists and educators to the Alaska coastline to observe, document and collect marine debris. The team will spend a week traveling 450 nautical miles aboard the R/V Norseman traveling west from Resurrection Bay along the Kenai Peninsula coast, then crossing the Kennedy Entrance channel to Shuyak and Afognak islands. The expedition ends with an intensive cleanup of Hallo Bay in Katmai National Park, a remote area seeing an influx of debris from the 2011 Japanese tsunami.  Read all about this excitingly worthwhile project involving all the big players on the marine litter scene.
The Gyre exhibition, on view February through September 2014 at the Anchorage Museum, will tell a global ocean debris story through the work of more than 20 artists from around the world. The 7,500-square-foot exhibition will include a section specific to Alaska featuring the 2013 expedition’s resulting scientific discoveries, as well as art created from the marine debris gathered on Alaska’s beaches during the journey. The exhibition also incorporates content from the Burke Museum’s Plastics Unwrapped, offering a balanced scientific and cultural history of how plastics are used in our daily lives.  Related educational activities include a book, school tours, public programs, and community outreach in rural Alaska.  Following its Anchorage debut, Gyre will be repackaged for traveling by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Services and will tour museums across the United States.
EXHIBITION ARTISTS
Mandy Barker, England
Edward Burtynsky, Canada
Dianna Cohen, Los Angeles
Fran Crowe, England
John Dahlsen, Australia
Mark Dion, New York
Joan Hall, St. Louis
Andrew Hughes, England
Chris Jordan, Seattle
Sonya Kelliher-Combs, Anchorage
Karen Larsen, Anchorage
Elizabeth Leader, Buffalo, N.Y.
Max Liboiron, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Pam Longobardi, Atlanta
Susan Middleton, San Francisco
Cynthia Minet, Los Angeles
Tuula Narhinen, Finland
Anne Percoco, Jersey City, N.J.
Tim Remick, Anchorage
Alexis Rockman, New York
Evelyn Rydz, Boston
U.S. Presidential Proclamation – June is National Oceans Month, 2013
Not littering is a huge contribution to the health of oceans and waterways. Promise not to.
British beach cleans and litter surveys from the Isle of Wight  (July 29, 2013) 
Dear EarthTalk: What is the “All One Ocean” campaign?  (June 15, 2013) 

President Obama signs federal marine debris legislation December 20, 2012

Specifically, the Marine Debris Research, Prevention, and Reduction Act requires NOAA to identify, determine sources of, assess, prevent, reduce and remove marine debris and address its adverse impacts on the national economy, the marine environment, and navigation safety.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL STORY.  
Plastic litter found in fish guts  (May 10, 2013)
International News from the Coastal Marine Union (EUCC) reports on the impact of tiny bits of plastic on marine life in the English Channel.
"International Conference on Prevention and Management of Marine Litter in European Seas"  April 10 – 13, 2013, Berlin
European Union wants comprehensive approach that targets plastic waste. 
CONFERENCE UPDATE:  (April 23, 2013)
EUCC contributes with its initiatives and projects to find solutions for marine litter at Berlin Conference  - More than 200 stakeholders were convened at International Conference on Prevention and Management of Marine Litter in EuropeanSeas in Berlin, 10-12 April 2013.
Ship to Shore Nova Scotia featured on CBC's Land & Sea  (March 26, 2013)
Canadian Plastics Industry Association announced that the Ship to Shore Program in Nova Scotia, an initiative to reduce marine litter and sponsored in part by CPIA, was featured on CBC's "Land & Sea" TV program on April 7, 12-noon EST.
MARINE LITTER NEWS IN ENGLISH, SPANISH AND GERMAN
Dive into the task of helping prevent litter in the first place with help from Marine Litter News, a gem of a site.  Connect with them on Facebook.
  At right, here another info-packed website on marine litter.  ===>>
Environmental issues affecting UK ports  (December 17,  2012)
A dry update on ocean port pollution from Hellenic Shipping News
“The cumulative effect of a succession of small changes over time is often more revolutionary than one big change at one time.” 
Global Plastics Associations Report Progress On Global Marine Litter Commitments  (December 15, 2012)
Pledged 100 projects in 2011, world plastic makers report the completion of 140 programs to combat marine litter, yet much more to do
EUROPE
Source: European Commission on the Environment
Email: env-marine-environment@ec.europa.eu

27/02/2012
Third Marine Litter High-Level Preparatory Meeting (Brussels). 
Meeting summary

30/11/2011
Second Marine Litter High-Level Preparatory Meeting
Meeting summary

22/09/2011
First Marine Litter High-Level Preparatory Meeting – Stakeholders to tackle solutions for marine litter. 
Meeting summary.

7-8/04/2011
Clean up the Med! Commissioner Potočnik visits Athens.
See the video!
Read his speech!
Press clippings.

8/11/2010
Commission Workshop on Marine Litter.
Agenda
Summary
Presentations (zip file ~530Mb)
The European Community produces high quality websites, including one designed especially for young people.
OSPAR is the mechanism by which fifteen Governments of the western coasts and catchments of Europe, together with the European Community, cooperate to protect the marine environment of the North-East Atlantic. It started in 1972 with the Oslo Convention against dumping. It was broadened to cover land-based sources and the offshore industry by the Paris Convention of 1974. The fifteen Governments are Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom. 
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA


Marine Debris and Marine Protection Agencies: Managing the Impacts  of Litter on Marine Ecosystems  (December 2011)
MPA News is published bimonthly by Marine Affairs Research and Education, a not-for-profit corporation, in association with the School of Marine & Environmental Affairs, University of Washington. 
SCOTLAND


Marine Litter Issues, Impacts and Actions  (May 2011)
A comprehensive report from Scottish Association for Marine Science and Macaulay Land Use Research Institute 
AFRICA
NEPAD Southern African Network of Water Centres of Excellence (SANWATCE)