Dr. Jenna Jambeck, from the University of Georgia, is one of the researchers who analyzed the pollution data from three pilot cities. In the St. Louis area, volunteers found 28,000 items including cigarette butts, plastic food wrappers and bags, beverage bottles, cans, and other litter.
Bettendorf Mayor Bob Gallagher is the co-chair of the Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative. He says St. Louis is different because it's the confluence of the Mississippi, Missouri, and Illinois rivers. And it's important to know the sources of the pollution, its concentration, and the manufacturers upstream. The initiative will bring the "citizen science" project to the Quad Cities area in the near future. That may be as soon as next month.
Three years ago, the Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative started the effort to reduce the amount of plastic that ends up in the river, the Gulf of Mexico, and oceans around the world.
Now, more cities and towns will host citizen science pollution projects. And they'll use the information to help people and groups take action to address the problem.
