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Choose "eco friendly" glitter for your next project (Photo: Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash).
Over the holidays, the Marine Debris Program highlighted how to “green” your travel plans, how to create zero waste gifts and gift wrapping, and how to host and decorate for holiday parties that celebrate the Earth too. As we wrapped up 2019, we shared one last piece of celebration advice: try a glitter-free New Year.
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Read more about the accomplishments from the Great Lakes Region (Photo: NOAA).
The NOAA Marine Debris Program is pleased to share the 2014-2019 Great Lakes Land-based Marine Debris Action Plan Accomplishments Report. The Report documents the many actions taken over the five years of the Action Plan to reduce the impacts of marine debris in the Great Lakes.
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 Chiniak Lagoon, near Kodiak. Transport can take many forms. Here, a sled and skates work best to get debris back for disposal (Photo: Island Trails Network).
Alaska is often thought of as the “last frontier.” For verification, one needs only look as far as the license plate. While the images of snow-covered mountains, isolated cabins, fishing boats, and amazing wildlife are all true to life, Alaska is also a place where marine debris is an especially challenging problem.
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Russ, ever the meticulous scientist, takes a photo of a little rubber balloon he found (Photo: NOAA).
It is ironic and sad that balloons, meant to convey a message of compassion, love, and best wishes, become anything but when they are lost and become marine debris. Balloons may be ingested by marine animals, their ribbons can entangle marine life, and when they are deposited on the beach, sometimes hundreds or even thousands of miles from where they were first lost, they add to the marine debris burden on the beach ecology.
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North Carolina Coastal Federation Marine Debris Recovery Project Field Crew From left to right: Joshua Whitney, Michael Willis, Joseph "Jody" Huie, Jr., and Joe Huie. (Photo: Bonnie Mitchell, NC Coastal Federation).
On a recent cool foggy morning near Surf City, North Carolina, Joe Huie stepped out of his skiff, trudged through the marsh and up to a small hammock. Hoping he wouldn’t see what he knew would be there, he gazed out over the marsh dotted with small spider webs glistening with the morning fog and dew. Soon, Joe could pick out the telltale signs of the pieces of docks, polystyrene, and other hurricane debris that littered the beautiful marsh.
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Removing dock debris left in the wake of Hurricane Florence (Photo: North Carolina Coastal Federation).
The NOAA Marine Debris Program’s Southeast Region, which spans Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina, includes gorgeous sandy beaches, expansive meandering marshlands, diverse wildlife, significant history, and lots of southern charm. While sweet tea, hospitality, downhome sayings, and “y’all” are signatures of the south, so too are issues with marine debris.
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 Debris caused by Hurricane Michael in Panama City, Florida (Photo: NOAA).
The 2018 hurricane and typhoon seasons inflicted severe damage to communities and coastal resources across North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Hurricanes Florence and Michael, and Typhoon Yutu left a swath of destruction and large amounts of debris in the coastal zones of the affected states and territory. This debris poses hazards to navigation, commercial fishing grounds, and sensitive ecosystems.
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