© 2023 National Earth Science Teachers Association. All Rights Reserved.

Page 6 The Earth Scientist

Advocates for Change

Amy Durham Shea, Environmental Learning Center, Vero Beach, Florida

Abstract

Every day, people use and discard single-use plastic items, many of which make 

their way to coastal areas as marine debris. As the population of Vero Beach, Florida 

continues to grow, so does our community’s potential to use and discard single-use 

plastics unless something is done to inspire our members of our community to 

switch to more sustainable options. Through this project, funded by the NOAA 

Planet Stewards, middle and high school youth volunteers at the Environmental 

Learning Center in Vero Beach collected over 200 pounds of marine debris from 

local waterways. A large portion of this debris was plastics in various sizes 

and forms, ranging from plastic forks, beach toys, and candy wrappers to tiny, 

unidentifiable fragments. After collecting and analyzing the debris, the youth were 

given the platform to educate others about the causes and impact of marine debris 

and single-use plastics. They created an advocacy video for younger students and an 

artful, interactive display that incorporated all of the plastic they collected during 

their beach clean-ups. Together, these two advocacy pieces show the impact that 

youth can have in addressing environmental issues through direct stewardship 

action and by using their unique perspective to educate and inspire others to take 

action in our local community. 

Introduction

The Environmental Learning Center (ELC) is a nature center located on an island in a 

coastal estuary in Vero Beach, Florida. Like many Florida towns, Vero Beach is a growing 

metropolis. Thousands of new residents move to the area each year and are joined by an 

even larger number of tourists looking to spend their holidays somewhere warm and 

sunny. Every day, visitors and residents alike use plastic straws, cutlery, bags, and to-go 

containers, which are often used only one time before being discarded. Plastics, both large 

and microscopic, are one of the largest components of the growing amount of marine 

debris found in our oceans and Great Lakes (Wessel et al., 2019, NOAA, 2023). A five-year 

study in Florida showed that the most common types of plastic marine debris included 

single-use plastic items, such as straws, plastic bottles, and plastic bags (NOAA, 2017). The 

impacts of marine debris include damage to habitats, ingestion by and death of marine life, 

Debris along the eastern shoreline 

of Eastern Island before a 2016 

marine debris removal mission

Photo Credit: NOAA PIFSC Coral Reef Ecosystem 

Program
© 2023 National Earth Science Teachers Association. All Rights Reserved.

Volume XL, Issue 1 Page 7

navigational issues, risks to human health, and even economic losses due to decreases in 

tourism (NOAA, 2017). As the number of people living in and visiting the Vero Beach area 

continues to grow, so will the use of plastics; unless we decide to make a change. 

The ELC seeks to inspire and empower all people to be active stewards of the environment. 

This mission means engaging people in stewardship activities, as well as helping them to see 

themselves as people who can make a meaningful difference in the world and inspire others to 

do the same. With this project, generously funded by NOAA Planet Stewards, our goals were: 

■ actively engage youth in stewardship action to remove marine debris from local 

waterways.

■ increase their knowledge about marine debris and single-use plastics and their 

impact on the environment.

■ empower youth to educate others through a youth-directed advocacy project. 

The First Steps 

Before we could give our students the platform to educate others, we wanted them to see 

first-hand the impact of debris in marine environments. We rallied our Green Teen! high 

school volunteers to plan and execute a series of beach clean-ups at one of the area’s publicly 

accessible beaches. However, the impacts of COVID-19 meant that we quickly had to alter 

our approach to this project. As a result of the pandemic, we had a much smaller number of 

high school volunteers than anticipated, so we refocused our efforts to also engage members 

of our middle school-aged environmental club. Our Junior Interpreters, as we call these 

dedicated middle school students, along with several community groups and professionals 

working in environmental fields, surpassed our expectations over a series of four coastal 

clean-ups, collecting double our targeted amount of 100 pounds of marine debris. 

In tandem with these clean-ups, we wanted to provide opportunities for the youth to 

understand the impact of marine debris on marine environments. At each clean-up, students 

sorted and logged the debris they collected in the Marine Debris Tracker app (https://

marinedebris.noaa.gov/partnerships/marine-debris-tracker) or (https://debristracker.

org) allowing them to contribute to a larger database and understand how prevalent 

plastic debris in particular is in marine environments. Through this process, they began 

to understand that plastic does not just disappear but instead degrades into smaller and 

smaller pieces. As they spent time sorting and counting increasingly miniscule plastic 

remains, they quickly identified this topic as a key area to address for their future advocacy 

campaign. Back at the ELC, we provided the youth with supporting opportunities to learn 

more about the impacts of marine debris and plastic pollution. They researched the impacts 

of plastic and how plastics break down in the environment. They also had the opportunity 

to dissect albatross boluses filled with plastic marine debris to understand how debris can 

reach animals and habitats across the globe. 

Advocating for Change

Empowered with knowledge and first-hand experience, we then asked these youth to take the 

lead in educating ELC visitors. We had previously identified the need for an exhibit in the 

visitor center and a way to engage our on-campus program attendees about plastic use. We 

aimed to balance these identified interpretive goals with the desire for the advocacy pieces 

to be student-led and saw these projects as an opportunity to provide youth with an audience 

and platform to allow their voices and perspectives to be shared. Rather than beginning with 
© 2023 National Earth Science Teachers Association. All Rights Reserved.

Page 8 The Earth Scientist

a preset curriculum, we provided supporting lessons as needed. These lessons ranged from 

learning the basics of environmental interpretation and exhibit design to video editing and 

how to use simple power tools. 

Related Lesson Plan: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Nx3weUmb5VYHJbDwIFAW4C9

mOpK9BwD1INXDjpbmnOU/edit?usp=sharing

Over several months, students carefully cleaned and 

separated the plastic debris they found on the beach, 

sketched and refined exhibit designs, and wrote and revised 

interpretive scripts. 

The first advocacy piece they created was a video aimed 

at encouraging younger students to reduce the amount of 

single-use plastics they brought to on-campus events in 

their lunch boxes. The video featured a single-use plastic 

trash monster who is “trying to take over the world.” The 

trash monster is at the ELC attempting to spread plastic 

pollution. It highlights the various single-use plastics 

that younger students may bring in their lunch boxes to 

on-campus programs and provides suggestions for reusable 

alternatives helpful in the effort to “defeat single-use plastic 

trash monsters.” 

The second advocacy project was an artful, interactive 

exhibit in the ELC’s visitor center. This display piece 

incorporated all of the plastic debris collected 

during the beach clean-ups arranged as a 

giant wave of garbage that feels as though it 

may crash down over you. 

Since these students were struck by the 

particular prevalence of small fragments 

of plastics left behind as larger plastic 

items broke down in the sun and surf, their 

display included an interactive element 

that allows guests to sift through sand to see 

the small pieces of plastics hidden within. 

Accompanying interpretive signs focused on 

educating guests about marine debris and 

its sources and what happens to single-use 

plastics after their 

single use, as well as 

encouraging them to 

reduce their use of 

single-use plastics 

and take steps to 

reduce marine debris. 

Image 1. Student shares small plastic 

pieces found during the beach clean-up

Photo credit: Heather Kramer

Image 2. Student sorts the 

garbage found into categories 

to enter into the NOAA Marine 

Debris Tracker App

Photo credit: Heather Kramer

Image 3. Student adds marine debris collected 

during beach clean-ups to the “Wave of 

Garbage” interpretive exhibit

Photo credit: Heather Kramer

Images 4 and 5. “Wave of Garbage” 

interpretive, interactive exhibit on display 

at the ELC’s visitor center

Photo credit: Amy Durham Shea
© 2023 National Earth Science Teachers Association. All Rights Reserved.

Volume XL, Issue 1 Page 9

Results 

Through this project, 57 youth were engaged in 375 hours of 

stewardship activities. They completed 4 clean-up activities and logged 

just over 223 pounds of marine debris in the Marine Debris Tracker 

app. The logged debris included thousands of individual pieces. In 

the first clean-up alone, students, volunteers, community mentors, 

and ELC staff members collected 1,343 individual pieces of debris, 

including 375 hard plastic pieces, 366 food wrappers, and 235 pieces 

of foam. In addition, pre- and post-assessments showed an increase of 

student knowledge about marine debris following the beach clean-ups 

and supporting learning opportunities, as shown in Figure 1. On the 

pre-assessment, students scored as an average of 69% compared to an 

average of 75% on the post-assessment.

ELC staff distributed the youth-created advocacy video to future 

program participants via email, asking participants and their parents 

or guardians to watch the advocacy video prior to coming to their on-campus program. 

ELC Youth Created Advocacy Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qk64Fdhs74I

Staff, youth volunteers, and interns measured the amount of single-use 

plastics that program participants brought to on-campus programs both 

before and after the distribution of the advocacy video by collecting 

and weighing all single-use plastics used during meals by program 

participants. This included plastic cutlery, plastic bags, bottles, and 

food wrappers. As seen in Figure 2, program participants without an 

opportunity to view the advocacy video brought significantly more 

single-use plastics (Mean score = 0.09 pounds per person, SD = 0.07, 

n = 137) than those participants who had the opportunity to view the 

advocacy video prior to their scheduled program (Mean score = 0.06 

pounds per person, Standard Deviation = 0.06, n = 140) (p < 0.01). It is, 

however, important to note that the ELC was unable to track or verify 

that program participants watched the video after it was made available, 

and additional factors, such as program participant demographics or 

frequency of participation in ELC programs, may have had an effect 

on single-use plastic use. Despite these factors, the results remain 

encouraging in showing the potential impact of youth-led advocacy for a local and global 

environmental issue. 

Due to visitor limitations caused by COVID-19, there was limited opportunity to assess 

the impact of the visitor center exhibit. A visitor survey was implemented both before 

and after the installation of the exhibit in order to measure impact on visitors’ knowledge 

of marine debris, beliefs about the importance of marine debris, and stated likelihood 

of taking actions to reduce marine debris. Visitors who completed the post-assessment 

after the installation of the exhibit scored an average score of 81% (n = 9) on the knowledge 

assessment portion compared to an average score of 63% (n = 6) by visitors who completed 

the pre-assessment prior to the installation of the exhibit. The majority of this increase in 

score can be attributed to an increased understanding of the sources of marine debris and 

ways to prevent marine debris. When asked to rank on a 5-point Likert scale how important 

of an issue they believe marine debris is and if their experience at the ELC increased that 

Figure 2. Amount of single-use plastics brought to on-campus 

programs by program participants without the opportunity to 

view and with the opportunity to view the advocacy video

66.0%

67.0%

68.0%

69.0%

70.0%

71.0%

72.0%

73.0%

74.0%

75.0%

76.0%

Pre-Assessment Post-Assessment

Mean Score

Knowledge Gain

Figure 1. Results of pre- and post-assessments to measure 

knowledge gain about marine debris and its impact on the 

environment

0

0.01

0.02

0.03

0.04

0.05

0.06

0.07

0.08

0.09

0.1

Without Video With Video

Pounds of Single-Use Plastic

Pounds of Single-Use Plastic per Program Participants
© 2023 National Earth Science Teachers Association. All Rights Reserved.

Page 10 The Earth Scientist

likelihood of taking action to help address marine between, visitors who completed the 

post-assessment rated the importance of marine debris and their likelihood of taking action 

only slightly higher (Mean score = 4.90, n = 9 for both questions) than those visitors who 

completed the pre-assessment (Mean score = 4.67, n = 6 for both questions). Due to the small 

sample size, we were not able to determine if the exhibit had a significant impact on beliefs 

about the importance of marine debris or stated likelihood of taking action. However, the 

exhibit is undoubtedly a powerful reflection of these youths’ experiences, and its creation 

provided them the opportunity to leave a lasting legacy of their work with the potential to 

educate thousands of annual visitors in the coming years. 

Conclusion

In total, 57 middle and high school students spent 375 hours learning about and taking a 

stand against the growing problem of marine debris in our environment. They surpassed 

the amount of marine debris expected to be collected through this project, while carefully 

sorting each piece to contribute to a growing database tracking global marine debris. Beyond 

the direct impact of removing debris from local beaches, these youths used their collective 

voices to advocate for a more sustainable future. Supported with appropriate learning 

opportunities to create advocacy pieces that reflected their experiences and understanding 

of marine debris, these students demonstrated the impact a small group of dedicated 

youth can do to inspire the switch and make a larger impact on for their community and 

the environment. 

References

NOAA. 2017. Florida marine debris reduction guidance plan. NOAA Marine Debris Program. https://

marinedebris.noaa.gov/regional-action-plan/florida-marine-debris-reduction-plan. 

NOAA. 2023. Why is marine debris a problem? NOAA Marine Debris Program. https://marinedebris.

noaa.gov/discover-marine-debris/why-marine-debris-problem. 

Wessel, C., Swanson, K., Weatherall, T., & Cebrain, J. 2019. Accumulation and distribution of marine 

debris on barrier islands across the northern Gulf of Mexico. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 139, 14-22. 

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2018.12.023. 

About the Author

Amy Durham Shea became a Planet Steward in 2020 while working as an environmental educator 

at the Environmental Learning Center in Vero Beach, FL. She has an undergraduate degree in

psychology from the University of Arkansas, a master’s degree in education from Vanderbilt University, 

and professional certificates in free-choice learning and fisheries management from Oregon State 

University. She is a Certified Interpretive Guide and Certified Interpretive Trainer through the National

Association of Interpretation and a member of the National Network of Ocean and Climate Change 

Interpretation. She has worked in a variety of formal and informal educational settings since she

relocated to Florida from Arkansas over twelve years ago. She enjoys educating people of all ages

about fisheries, climate change, marine and estuarine ecosystems, and local Florida habitats through 

place-based experiences and has a strong interest in understanding how different messaging 

approaches impact people’s perceptions of environmental issues. Amy currently works as a Curator of

Education Programs at Brevard Zoo in Melbourne, FL and can be reached at akdurham@gmail.co