Doing a Trash Watch

Trash Watch is quite literally about observing the impacts of single-use pollution over time. You choose a location, leave single-use pollution in place where you found it, and come back over time to monitor its impact.

 

We call this ‘in situ monitoring’. By checking in regularly to see how single use pollution is breaking down into the environment, we can understand the impacts it will have on flora, fauna and our health. To choose a place suitable for our in situ monitoring, pick a random place along a trail. 

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Retrieve some items of single-use pollution, then leave them in your chosen spot. You might want to create a sign that explains what’s going on so other people don’t remove them.

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Each month, go back and check on the items. Record any signs of interaction.

This might include:

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Fauna / Animal Interaction with SUP:

• Chew marks, holes, rips in SUP

• Nesting / inhabiting in, on or under SUP

• Signs of death, including; animal bodies, remains

• Methanogenesis (rotten egg smell)

• Moved or disappeared SUP

​Fauna / Animal Interaction with the experimental site:

• Tracks running through, near the site

• Droppings or faeces 

• Signs of feeding 

• Signs of 'couching', where animals, such as deer; have slept (you can see the imprint of their body!!!)​

Flora / Plant Interaction with SUP - (Tip; this is where your control plots come in handy!):

• Imprinting - where the weight of the SUP item causes an indent in the flora

• Changes in plant coverage - E.g. is the forest floor less green than expected?

• Changes to plant species diversity - E.g. is there more moss?

• Signs of flora bleaching and/or drying - E.g. is the SUP item acting as a magnifying glass and suffocating the floor underneath it?

• Embedding - E.g. are plants growing through or within the layers of the SUP items?

• Signs of feeding - E.g. a pile of squirrel shredded pine cones, on a tree stump

 

You can use a quadrat to help with your observations. You want to be as unbiased as possible with your quadrat placement. To help with this, ask a pal to pick a number between 1 and 10, and a random direction. Then walk the number of steps suggested and wherever you end up, that’s where you place your quadrat. Then take a picture and observe!
 

Trash Watch is a longer commitment but is so rewarding. This is a core piece of the puzzle we’re yet to understand, but it’s vital we know more about the impact single-use pollution is having on plants and animals, so we can better protect them in the future.