- Question #1 of 7 -

How much marine debris did the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration help remove from U.S. waters last year?

Answer: C, 96 million metric tons

The cleanup was thanks to NOAA’s 2023 Marine Debris Program and its Papahānaumokuākea Marine Debris Project, which removed debris from shallow coral reefs and shorelines in Hawai’i’s Pacific Ocean. It was mostly fishing nets, but a notable amount of plastic from land-based trash was removed too.

In fact, each year 10 million metric tons of plastic waste ends up in the global ocean, much of it via riverways. That’s why picking up trash you see near local streams and disposing of it properly helps so much.

- Question #2 of 7 -

How does one initiative launched by the Department of State in 2023 plan to curb plastic pollution?

Answer: D, All of the above

At the 2023 UN General Assembly, the State Department announced the launch of the End Plastic Pollution International Collaborative (EPPIC). EPPIC is an international public-private partnership to reduce the demand for plastics and transform the plastic lifecycle toward a circular waste stream.

Currently, less than 9% of all plastic is recycled around the world. Most of it ends up in the trash or in the ocean. By moving toward a circular waste stream, we can use things made of plastic over and over again, instead of just using them once and then throwing them away.

- Question #3 of 7 -

How many U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Trash Free Waters projects have been completed since 2013, the year the program began?

Answer: A, 200

The EPA began the volunteer initiative Trash Free Waters to reduce land-based littering that harms waterways. (Volunteers are motivated when they learn of studies that show, for instance, that 100% of mussels tested harbor microplastics in their flesh.)

The initiative has spurred 200 U.S. cleanup projects and helped international partners set up similar programs. Look for beach and riverway cleanups near you!

- Question #4 of 7 -

NASA uses satellites to track plastics and microplastics in the ocean.

Answer: A, True

A NASA-funded project uses satellites to find microplastics in the global ocean using hyperspectral remote sensing. Ocean waves can carry plastic trash and microplastics thousands of miles, making it difficult to remove them and killing an estimated 1 million animals annually.

By detecting plastics, the satellites can guide crucial cleanup efforts.

- Question #5 of 7 -

Which of the following does the U.S. Agency for International Development’s flagship program under the Save Our Seas Initiative, Clean Cities, Blue Ocean do?

D, All of the above

Since 2019, this USAID program has prevented 82,000 metric tons of plastic from entering the ocean—the equivalent of 9 billion plastic bottles! Across 10 countries and 25 cities, it has helped train 14,500 people in waste management topics and facilitated 200 partnerships with local governments, private-sector companies and development groups to build circular plastic economies.

USAID’s work aims to eliminate the flow of plastics into the ocean — which is currently estimated to be the equivalent of more than a garbage truck per minute.

- Question #6 of 7 -

Which types of plastics-related research does the U.S. National Science Foundation support?

Answer: B, Sustainable-materials research

Because over the past decade, we produced more plastic than during the entire 20th century, inventing environmentally sustainable materials matters.

The NSF supports engineering research that advances recycling, polymer chemistry and physics, alternative materials, sustainable and circular processes, pollution mitigation and remediation.

- Question #7 of 7 -

Which of these actions can you take to mitigate plastic pollution?

Answer: E, O.K.! Do it all!

All of these efforts help to solve the problem plastic pollution poses for our planet. Half of the plastic produced worldwide is for a single use. While corporations and governments take responsibility for system-wide change, each of us can do our own part by reducing our use of plastic products and getting involved in local volunteer efforts to pick up plastic waste from the environment.