2024 Marine Citizen Scientist
Motivation: The project was inspired by the impact of human-produced garbage on the ocean and coastal environments. The goal was to raise awareness among young people about marine environmental issues through coastal cleanup activities.
The Taipei 360 Scout Group collaborated with the Ocean Conservation Administration (OCA) for a marine citizen scientist project. Activities included a beach cleanup at Longmen Beach and intertidal zone observations at Ma Gun.
The trash on the beach is very diverse, including PET bottles, plastic bottle caps, plastic straws, disposable tableware, food packaging bags, fishing waste, lighters, food containers, and more. The amount of trash is overwhelming and seemingly endless. In a limited amount of time, we collected a total of 21.02 kilograms of trash. After sorting and categorizing, the top three items were plastic bottle caps, food packaging bags, and disposable tableware.
We can change our behavior to reduce plastic usage. Starting from daily life, we should carefully choose products and use reusable drink cups, food containers, and eco-friendly bags to minimize waste at the source. Reducing plastic and protecting the ecosystem is everyone’s responsibility. Everyone can be a marine citizen scientist.
Through this activity, we realized the harmful impact of plastic waste on the environment.
