Raising awareness, conducting science, encouraging alternatives
Eckerd College was awarded a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Marine Debris Program to reduce single-use plastic consumption on campus.
The project, which is funded through August 2020, raises awareness among students, faculty and staff about the negative environmental impacts of plastic waste, particularly in the ocean habitat that borders our campus, and encourage use of alternatives to single-use plastic items.
In 2019, Eckerd College signed a sweeping pledge that prohibits the purchase of most nonessential single-use plastics using College funds, the first of its kind to be enacted in the nation.
Reduce Single-Use Project Website
Taking Action
Reducing single-use plastics at Eckerd College
ACADEMIC INTEGRATION
Courses are now offered at Eckerd that analyze the impacts of marine debris as well as its direct and indirect effects on us and the world’s oceans.
CAMPUS CLEAN-UPS
Our project hosts campus cleanups throughout the year to clean the campus, the coastline, and the water at Eckerd.
CROSS-CAMPUS CHANGE
We offer reusable water bottles and umbrellas on Admission tours. Our Fill It Forward initiative rewards students for using their own beverage containers for refills at our pub and café. We now offer boxed water at major events.
CHALLENGES
Students and faculty are being encouraged to reduce their plastic consumption through campus-wide plastic-reduction challenges.
QUANTIFICATION
We’re quantifying plastic consumption data across campus to determine the need for reusables. For example, we are able to show that water bottle filling stations (85 installed so far!) are indeed reducing consumption.
REUSABLE GIVE-AWAYS
Bamboo plates, utensils, and other reusable alternatives are being provided by the Reduce Single-Use project in fun giveaways to keep the Eckerd community engaged and involved.
See for yourself
