ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Fourth of July is days away and thousands will be heading to the beach or going out on the water to celebrate.
- A non-proft to help keep ecosystems clean
- Users have tracked more than 1.3 million items
- Download the app here
Environmental leaders want to remind people to bring their trash with them when they leave, and try to pick up garbage along the shore to help keep the Gulf of Mexico clean.
To help with this mission, there’s an app called Marine Debris Tracker where you can log the items you find.
Neill Holland is the founder of Ocean Aid 360, a nonprofit that aims to keep our ecosystems clean. He uses the app often.
“The plastics make their way right out into the Gulf of Mexico and they have a dramatic impact on marine life,” said Holland.
Spectrum Bay News 9 Jorja Roman, went out on Holland’s boat for about 30 minutes to pick up plastic to try out the app.
In about 30 minutes, she found 26 items including plastic bottles, plastic bags, and Styrofoam containers. Holland says he finds garbage out on the water every day.
The app allows people to log what they find. Holland says it helps agencies, like NOAA, better identify areas where they may need to allocate more funding.
“It helps them understand where these collections of debris are located and where they can focus their efforts and their funding to help get it out of the water and prevent it from entering the water in the first place,” said Holland.
The app is free to download through the App Store. Users are asked to create a log in, then they can track the items they find and even take a picture. The app keeps track of your location.
The app has been available for a few years. So far, thousands of users have tracked more than 1.3 million items.