Resources
Understanding marine debris
Our friends in the NOAA Marine Debris Program have built excellent resources for understanding what marine debris is and how to prevent it. Here's where to start.
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01
Understanding Marine Debris
What counts as marine debris, where it comes from, and why it ends up on Washington beaches. NOAA Marine Debris Program primer.
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02
Japan Tsunami Marine Debris
The 2011 tsunami sent millions of tons of debris across the Pacific. We still see pieces wash up — here's what to do when you find one.
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03
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch
The North Pacific gyre concentrates floating debris from across the basin. Not a "patch" so much as a soup of micro-plastics across millions of square kilometers.
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04
Monitoring Marine Debris
How citizen scientists, agencies, and partners track what washes up where — and how data flows into the global TIDES dataset.
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05
Reduce · Reuse · Recycle
Cleanup work is downstream. Reducing single-use plastic, reusing containers, and proper recycling are how we stop debris before it reaches the coast.
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