On January 27th 2025, we planned on going to the Rockaways, Queens to do a beach cleanup. But since we are in the middle of January, and how far of a drive it was, we decided that the pier on the Hudson River was a better option for us. Xander’s dad drove us to the pier, so we could pick up pieces of trash, so hopefully they won’t end up in the ocean. Even though it was cold, it was fun to walk around the pier doing something good for the world.

One of the interesting things we found while walking on the pier was geese eating trash that ended up in the river. This is a big problem because all animals are being affected by these plastics ending up in multiple bodies of water. There are multiple photos of fish, or ducks insides, and seeing so many plastic pieces inside of the animal. Its so hard to see that if we are just throwing trash on the ground, it can be hurting so many animals, including us. We walked around the pier for a while, and we picked up 107 pieces of trash, but there are so many more pieces of trash laying on the floor everywhere. We found multiple trash cans on our walk. I don’t understand why you cant just throw your trash into a trashcan. It isint that much extra work. NYC is trying to solve this problem by saying if they catch you littering, they will fine you $250, but I don’t see it fixing such a big problem, as so many more people are doing it.

I hope that people figure out that they are eating microplastic everyday. They should know that they are wearing microplastics aswell. Plastic is all aground us. If you dont dispose your trash well enough, it will eventually get inside of you. Everyone should be very cautious, and take the extra step to throw your trash in a trash can, instead of throwing it on the ground.

Read more

On January 29th, 2025 we went on a Zoom with David Jones, who is in charge of an organization called Just One Ocean, where they focus on marine biology, and how plastics can affect ourselves and our planet. David spent 17 years in the military to pay off his university debt, where he studied nuclear physics. In the military, he had a side job where he was the head of the diving team, which got him interested in diving in the ocean, which lead him to getting interested in plastics and ocean life. In 2013, he went to Korea and listened to other presentations and decided to make his own organization called Just One Ocean. David made a film called Plastic Ocean, that is shown on Netflix.

David gave us lots of information, he taught us about measo-plastics which are microplastics that are distributed and transported in marine environments through ocean currents, wind and wave action, and biological processes. Another term that David told us about is Bioaccumulation (Food chain) which are toxins becoming higher and higher and higher the bigger the animal. Toxins magnify abnormally based on size. Bioaccumulation is harmful for the environment because it allows toxic substances like heavy metals and pesticides to build up in organisms within a food chain. These are all new terms to us, that are very useful. He had a lot of knowledge about plastic in the ocean, and he even said that plastic isn’t the worst habitat-destruction.

Did you know that in the last 10 years, we have produced more plastic than we have in the last 100 years? We have produce so many microplastics, that its impossible to clean up all of the plastic. We have produced 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic. Which is 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic. Which is 80 million blue whales, or 822,000 Eiffel towers. Because of how much plastic we have produced, there isn’t any way that we can clean it all up. All we can do is reduce the amount of plastic that we use.

Even though we have interviewed a few marine biologists and a few people who work with the ocean, he still taught us a lot about the ocean, and I think its cool that he has traveled so many places to learn more about the ocean. I found it so cool how he got inspired by other people to start his own organization. Thank you so much David and Just One Ocean for letting us interview you!

Read more

On January 10th, 2025, Eliza, our science teacher who was our chaperone, Audrey, Xander, Fox, Taiyo, and I went to Washington Square Park to interview people about their knowledge of recycling and composting. Lots of people aren’t very aware of composting. It helps improve our soil, and how plants grow. Composting is good for our environment because it protects the climate by reducing methane emissions from landfills. So everybody should be composting because it will help our environment. After we got the data that we needed, we then made a Pi chart showing how many people know about composting and how many don’t.

We walked around Washington Square Park, asking random people what they knew about composting. In total, we asked 16 people. 60% did know about composting, and 40% didn’t. A few of the people we interviewed were college students at NYU, and they told us about how they composted at home. One of the people told us how she composted back in Seattle, would collect all of her food that she didn’t eat, and she would go to markets, or local composting areas and drop off her compost there. And a few of them were older and told us composting stories back in their days. We were denied by lots of people, but all we needed were just a few yes’ and no’s. We got 10 people who knew about composting, and 6 people who didn’t. So 62.5% know about composting, and 37.5% do not.
We came back with a lot of data, and since it was Xander’s birthday, we decided to take a pit stop at Molly’s Cupcakes and have a little birthday celebration for him with the 6 of us. Happy birthday Xander!

Read more

On January 8th, 2025 we got on a zoom call with a marine biologist who works with Loggerhead Marine Life Center, Valerie Tovar. She is the conservation manager of the organization and answered a few questions about microplastics. Marine Biologists are ssciwentists who study life in the oceans. They research and observe marine organisms and ecosystems, such as oceans and saltwater lakes.

Valerie Tovar graduated with a degree in ocean biology and went to college in Florida. We found her on Instagram and messaged them asking if we could interview them about ocean life. One of the questions we asked was “How do microplastics affect the ocean, and more specifically marine life?” She told us that plastic will never go away, no matter how much we prevent it. Every animal is exposed to microplastics, and she found that fish at the bottom of the ocean had microplastics in them, which means fish closer to the land, are also going to have microplastics in them.

As apart of Valerie Tovar’s job, she goes scuba diving twice a month. While scuba diving, shes found lots of random stuff near the pier where she was diving. One of the items she has found was a traffic cone. Traffic cones are made out of thermoplastic, or rubber, which is bad for the environment. This traffic cone is going to add more microplastics into the ocean. People littering into the ocean are hurting maine life, is eventually going to hurt themselves.

Another question that we asked Valerie that is very important is, “What can microplastics do to our bodies?” Microplastics have carcinogens, which are substances that can develop cancer, and cause hormonal imbalance. Microplastics can do lots of toxic stuff to our bodies, that we should be avoiding. Avoiding microplastics in general will prevent you from getting sick from different diseases.

Read more

On December 13th 2024 we interviewed Colombe Jacobsen-Derstine, who works in the food industry, to help us fill in the blanks about microplastics and how its affects the human body. She taught us about how microplastics are also involved in the food industry, and how its bad for our bodies.

One of the things that we learned is that microplastics end up in the ocean and fish are affected by it. A lot of people eat seafood, whether its cod, tuna, eel, herring, crab, shrimp, lobster, or any food that you can catch in the ocean. If you eat seafood, this means that you are eating microplastics too. Microplastics are bad for your body, because most microplastics are toxic. Microplastics can be disruptive to your hormone balance, and cross barriers in your body.

Although seafood isint the only thing that contains microplastics, but what are ways that we can avoid eating microplastics? How can we avoid putting plastic in the ocean? You should always make sure that you are drinking filtered or bottled water because they are much cleaner than tap water. Especially in NYC, water that comes out of the faucet is very bad for you to drink because it contains a lot of bacteria. You should limit the amount of seafood that you eat, and you should eat farm raised seafood instead, because it is healthier and more safe for you to eat. Another way to reduce the amount of microplastics you eat is by eating in glass containers, or ceramic bowls etc, because in plastic containers, tiny pieces of microplastics are going to enter your food, and then the microplastics will be inside of your system. Preventing microplastics from ending up in our ocean will help the earth, our waters, animals, and humans. But we have to act quickly because there is no turning back.

Read more

On December 11th 2024, we interviewed Eliza Zygmuntowicz, who is our science teacher to ask her about microplastics, the garbage patch, and a bit about fast fashion. One of the things that we learned is that you can prevent microplastics by using a specific laundry bag that prevents all of the fibers from going through the laundry machine, and eventually ending up in the ocean.

Another thing that we learned is that If you purchase a piece of fast-fashion clothing, make sure you wear it more than once and that it gets its full use. Or even handing it down to someone else for them to wear. Instead of wearing it one time and throwing it away. Because that piece of clothing will end up in the ocean.

The last thing we talked about was the garbage patch. The garbage patch is located in the Pacific Ocean in between Hawaii and California. The garbage patch is a huge patch with a bunch of garbage attached together, slowly building up. The garbage patch is as big as Texas. Which is 268,597 miles long. Imagine seeing a patch of garbage floating in the ocean that was bigger than you, and probably the state you live in.

Eliza gave us lots of details of how we can help prevent microplastics from ending up in the ocean, and gave us new information that will help us in the future.

Read more