The Problem
We have chosen to address water quality and wildlife conservation. We are located in Tennessee and the TN river supplies thousands with drinking water hit the river has tested higher for microplastic content than any other river tested in the world to date so we are literally drinking microplastics on a daily basis. We also hope to continue to address and educate fishermen/women along the river anout monofilament and plastic bait that is often tossed in the river. The fishing community here is large and there is so much marine debris that can be assessed and limited with just a little bit of education. I have placed monofilament receptacles for recycling at state parks and have gotten an overwhelming positive response from fishermen as well as park rangers who now educate others when I’m not around. I have also written a children’s book that I would love to get into the hands of more kids to educate them about river pollution. Our oceans get a lot of attention as they rightly deserve but so many people don’t live near the ocean but we need it to be healthy for a healthy life on land and our rivers are the key to that since 80% of ocean plastic starts on land .
