Plastics permeate every part of our lives, from packaging for food and beverages, to our clothing, to cosmetics and medical supplies. It’s estimated that each year, nearly 22 million pounds of plastic enters the Great Lakes, posing threats to the environment and, potentially, public health.

Part of the solution to this problem involves helping people make a connection between the convenience of plastic and how pervasive it is, said Abigail Comar, Ohio Sea Grant’s marine debris outreach specialist. Through her role based in northeast Ohio, Comar contributes to ongoing projects helping to raise awareness about plastic pollution and marine debris.

“Plastic has become a part of almost every single aspect of everyone’s life,” Comar said. “I think bringing intentional awareness to its presence and how you interact with it is an important stepping stone toward making change.”

“The reason plastics exist is because they’re convenient, so a lot of the outreach work that we do on marine debris and plastic pollution is just encouraging intentionality around using plastics,” she continued.

Since joining Ohio Sea Grant in 2023, Comar has worked as a project assistant for three different grants that the program received. One, Plastic-Free Cleveland, is a local partnership among stakeholders to take steps toward preventing plastic pollution and reducing plastic use. Funded by a grant from NOAA, the project brings together a variety of representatives from the private sector, nonprofits, and city, county, state, and federal government, all organized into different working groups that Comar oversees.

For example, one working group focuses on educating people about plastics used in fashion textiles for clothing, and another works with contractors to encourage alternatives to plastic materials in restoration projects, Comar said. Meanwhile, the Plastic-Free Dining working group, led by the Northern Ohio chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, works to get more businesses certified as Great Lakes Friendly Restaurants. The efforts have yielded educational materials like presentations and fact sheets, and a full list of resources is available on Plastic-Free Cleveland’s website.

“If people want to learn more about what marine debris is, or they want to know more about what local regulations exist related to plastic or what cleanup groups are available to join, that information is all listed on the website,” Comar said.

After the grant for the two-year project ends in June, Comar will continue to run the group, and partners are currently planning how they’ll keep advancing plastic reduction goals in the future.

Much of Comar’s outreach work involves two different trash-trapping robots: BeBot and Pixie Drone. BeBot is an electric beach-cleaning robot equipped with treads that sifts through sand to collect marine debris, while Pixie Drone is a remote-controlled, boat-like device that can gather all kinds of waste floating on the water. Comar works to share the technologies with partners in the Cleveland area and educate people about the technology at outreach events.

The effort, which launched in Ohio in 2023, is made possible thanks to a partnership with the binational Council of the Great Lakes Region through the Great Lakes Plastic Cleanup, a joint initiative of CGLR and Canada-based Pollution Probe, as well as generous funding and support provided by Midwest retailer, Meijer.

“We do beach cleanups starting in May and continuing through the rest of the summer,” Comar said. “Then we weigh what we collect, and I sometimes characterize the debris so we can actually see what specific items we’re picking up on the beach.”

Comar conducts outreach throughout the summer season. Plans this year include BeBot demonstrations for marina owners and “Marine Debris Days” with the Cleveland Public Library.

A significant and ongoing project that utilizes the trash-trapping robots is the Beach and On-water Trash Trapping Tech Team for Lake Erie, or BOTtttle — also overseen by Comar, as part of a partnership with the Cuyahoga Community College Youth Technology Academy. Through the project, Comar and others work to teach high school students in the greater Cleveland area about the cleanup technology so that they can help train coastal partners to use it.

“We work with students to help with maintenance on the robots, and they also come to outreach events to learn how to do cleanups with the robots,” she explained. “We also do lots of environmental education opportunities, like visiting Stone Lab.”

Many of these opportunities serve as an introduction to the outdoors for the Cleveland-area students, getting to ride on a boat or visit a Lake Erie beach for the first time.

“The biggest thing that I hope for the students is that they build a personal connection with the environment,” Comar said. “A lot of the kids don’t get many opportunities like that in school or otherwise. And with the workforce development training, they’ll hopefully have the lake in mind as they go on to pursue careers in engineering and robotics.”

For more information about Ohio Sea Grant’s marine debris outreach efforts, contact Comar at comar.9@osu.edu.

Ohio Sea Grant is supported by The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) School of Environment and Natural Resources, Ohio State University Extension, and NOAA Sea Grant, a network of 34 Sea Grant programs nation-wide dedicated to the protection and sustainable use of marine and Great Lakes resources. Stone Laboratory is Ohio State’s island campus on Lake Erie and is the research, education, and outreach facility of Ohio Sea Grant and part of CFAES School of Environment and Natural Resources.