Although many people might think oceanside cities bear the responsibility to keep plastic and trash out of the water, the Mississippi River can act as a funnel for that trash from the heart of the country to the Gulf of Mexico. The Mississippi River drains more than 40% of the continental U.S. – just how much debris does it take along with it?
That’s what a group of researchers and environmental advocates wanted to find out when they began a litter analysis of a handful of cities along the river a few years ago. This fall, they released what they’re calling the “first-ever snapshot of the state of plastic pollution along the Mississippi River.”
About 80,000 litter items were logged during the study’s data collection period.
Plastic was the top material found in and around the river, making up 75% of the total trash. Paper and lumber was next at 9%, followed by metal at 7%, glass at 5%, and personal protective equipment like masks at 2%.
The top 10 most commonly found items included:
- 11,278 cigarette butts
- 9,809 food wrappers
- 6,723 beverage bottles
- 5,747 foam fragments
- 4,239 hard plastic fragments
- 4,210 paper and cardboard items
- 3,882 plastic bags
- 3,640 aluminum or tin cans
- 3,260 foam or plastic cups
- 3,149 film fragments
Other notable finds include 825 masks, 480 items of clothing and shoes and 291 pieces of fishing gear.
Read More https://mississippitoday.org/2023/12/29/mississippi-river-trash/