Coastal and Ocean Clean-up Project Funding
By Aiswarya Lakshmi
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
NOAA has awarded more than $675,000 in grants to 13 projects aimed at aiding coastal communities in their fight against marine debris, the agency announced.
This is the third year NOAA’s Marine Debris Program has awarded grants through its Marine Debris Prevention through Education and Outreach grant competition.
“Education and outreach are important pillars of our program and we look forward to working with the recipients to help reach even more people,” said Nancy Wallace, the program’s director. “Marine debris is preventable and by raising awareness and learning how to stop it at the source, we can help solve this problem.”
The program’s education and outreach partners across the country have inspired thousands to become better ocean stewards, and have carried the message that prevention is the key to solving the marine debris problem.
This year, partners will help prevent marine debris through encouraging behavior change, implementing new marine debris reduction and prevention activities, and conducting public outreach and education in their communities.
Each year, NOAA’s Marine Debris Program supports projects across the country that use outreach and education as a way to prevent marine debris. These projects aim to change behavior, especially among youth, and provide them with hands-on experiences that deepen their understanding of the marine debris problem.