Oceans Plastic Project CLG
Started in 2017, with the aim of researching the plastic waste along the Atlantic and Irish seacoasts of Ireland.
Primarily starting in West Cork working together with the Transition /4th year plus other years Secondary School Students. originally with Skibbereen Community School.
With the success of the pilot, engaging other schools in the county with the project to provide data became a priority to combine data and broaden the research.
The following schools are now taking part :
Skibbereen Community School
Scoil Phobail Bhéara / Beara Community School
Coláiste Pobail Bheanntraí / Bantry Community School
Schull Community College
The surveying work involves collecting all kinds of data from micro plastics to larger more upcycled plastic, also including water samples from freshwater streams and building up a knowledge base of the worst affected areas, and coastal changes due to erosion and climate change.
Some of the plastics collected is being used for art projects and upcycling ideas and have been part of the Junk Cotutor competition where the students design and make clothing from thrown away rubbish.
Projects can also be entered into the yearly National Young Scientist Competition.
The students also are encouraged to look at new ways to reduce plastic use in our daily lives and develop possible business options which could be commercially become viable.
Collecting the plastic recycling, upcycling using the waste in art and design project in the schools and potentially inventing new products to deal and manage the plastics to prevent them from entering the marine environment particularly in the commercial sector which is proving to the worst of the material found washed up on the shores.
A new development is that we are going to research the micro plastic waste in the seas prior to it reaching the shores to assess the levels floating off the coast in 2021
The aims of the project are teaching marine knowledge as well as building up a picture and monitoring of the scale of the plastic waste in our seas and reaching our shores.
Rory Jackson, Founder O,P,P CLG 12 2017
