The Mayors and Communities of Greenville and Rosedale, Mississippi Join Host of Cities Along Mississippi River in Effort to Tackle Plastic Pollution
Greenville, Mississippi, June 11, 2022 – The Mississippi River Plastic Pollution Initiative made a stop in Greenville, Mississippi this weekend to gather data which will generate a critical baseline of plastic debris found in the River. This will aid decision-makers in both the private and public sectors in judging the success of their efforts to reduce plastic pollution flowing into the river and ultimately into ocean, and to inspire effective policy action.
The initiative operates under the leadership of the Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative (MRCTI), the mayors of the Mississippi River in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the University of Georgia.
“Plastic waste continuously enters the Mississippi River and poses a large threat to the environmental quality of our ecosystem,” said Mayor Errick D, Simmons of Greenville, MS and MRCTI Co-Chair. “As the drainage system for 40% of the continental United States, plastic waste and other litter travels through storm drains and smaller waterways into the river and its tributaries, ultimately making way to the Gulf of Mexico and into the ocean.”
Approximately 11 million metric tons of plastic enters the oceans each year, with rivers contributing to a significant portion of that amount. In 2016, the U.S. generated 42 million metric tons of plastic waste, the largest amount of any country in the world, and was the third largest contributor of mismanaged plastic waste to the coastal environment globally. *
“By using the mobile Debris Tracker app on our smartphones, local residents along the river, and particularly right here in our local communities, can be a part of collecting information and cleaning up plastic pollution in our most treasured natural resource – the Mississippi River,” said Mayor Aelicia L. Thomas of Rosedale, MS.
Supporting the efforts today was the Rosedale Freedom Project who assisted the data collection. Since 2021, communities along the length of the Mississippi River have joined the effort to combat plastic pollution. Earlier events in Baton Rouge, LA, St. Louis, MO, St. Paul, MN, and the Quad Cities have hosted events and joined the effort. Each community has fielded an app, Debris Tracker.
“We are so pleased to be partners on this important initiative with cities along the
Mississippi, just as the world has endorsed an historic resolution to End Plastic Pollution,” said Barbara Hendrie, Director, UNEP North America Office. “With just 9% of all plastic being recycled globally , the work that we are doing in the Mississippi Delta region has a direct connection with the global actions that we are taking to address the problem of plastic pollution worldwide.”
“Citizen science allows us to work together with communities to capture data on what is entering the environment, close to the source,” said Jenna Jambeck, Distinguished Professor in Environmental Engineering at the University of Georgia. “This scale of data collection would be impossible without the participation of thousands of community members along the river to inform upstream solutions to plastic pollution.”
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The Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative (MRCTI)
The Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative (MRCTI) is a coalition of 101 mayors from along the Mississippi River Corridor, which spans ten states. The Mississippi River provides drinking water to more than 20 million people and 50 cities. The river’s resources support 1.5 million jobs and nearly $500 billion in annual revenue. https://www.mrcti.org/
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
UNEP is the leading global voice on the environment. It provides leadership and encourages partnership in caring for the environment by inspiring, informing, and enabling nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations. More information on the initiative can be found at www.unep.org/mississippi. https://www.unep.org/regions/north-america
About University of Georgia’s Debris Tracker
The Marine Debris Tracker is a free mobile app designed to help community members make a difference by contributing data on plastic pollution. Developed in 2010 in partnership with the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and currently supported by Morgan Stanley, the Debris Tracker community is creating a bigger picture of marine debris and plastic pollution through collecting open data, generating scientific findings, informing policy, and inspiring upstream design. Over 4 million items have been logged to date. https://debristracker.org/
The Rosedale Freedom Project supports the Mississippi Delta’s young leaders in the development of critical consciousness and the practice of justice through community building, exploration, artistic creation, organizing, and the study of social history and grassroots democracy.
