This blog post was written by Jack Benson, a 2024 EarthEcho Marine Plastics Ambassador.

My Project CLEAR Chicago focused on reducing the amount of plastic that is used at Chicago public beaches by families and spreading awareness about the impact single use plastic has on our local environment. In order to do so I held an in-person event at the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry on earth day, where I led guests through a hands-on activity designed to inform them on the impact of plastic in waterways. Overall during the event I interacted with roughly 1,000 guests. I also used the event to promote a beach clean up of 57th Street Beach on May 4th. 7 people attended and collectively we were able to clean up just over 75 pounds of trash from the beach. I think what inspired me most to host these two events was my own experience on beaches. For as long as I can remember I have spent countless hours every summer swimming and having fun on these beaches, and as I've gotten older I've begun to notice the mistreatment of these spaces. The carelessness in which people use plastic and other disposable containers. The amount of chip bags, cans, bottles, and shopping bags that get wedged between rocks or strewn in bushes is heartbreaking. Because of this I decided that I was going to do something about it and spread the word. The only way we can stop items from littering our beaches is by informing people what happens when they drop a chip bag and neglect to pick it up. By encouraging kids to see plastic as a problem we can also start conservation habits at a young age, allowing them to be aware of their impact while at a beach. Overall I think I definitely made an impact with the people I interacted with.

I started the project by reaching out to the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry and the majority of the project time was spent in conversation with them about dates and specifics for the event. I also spent lots of time brainstorming the specifics of the activity. Overall I hosted two events. One on April 22nd, Earth Day, at the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry, and a beach cleanup on May 4th at 57th Street Beach.

During the event at the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry around 1,000 guests attended the exhibit during the time I was there and I interacted with many of them. I handed out 79 Bookmarks to successful kids who stopped the plastic with many more forgetting to grab them. I can confidently say that I lead well over 200 kids through the activity with many of them seeming to love doing it. We saw lots of enthusiasm for the activity with some getting very very excited when their contraception worked. We even had some adults who got excited about it. Overall we had all positive interaction and a lot of the kids really got the message I was trying to get across.

During the cleanup unfortunately because of the weather turnout was a little low, but 7 people did come and collectively we were able to collect about 75 pounds of trash. Which is definitely a success.

I am really proud of how both of these events turned out. If you had told me a year ago that I would be hosting an event at a museum I wouldn't have believed you. The biggest challenges I faced was communication with the Museum. They were super helpful overall but sometimes they would push back the date we would have originally liked for the event to happen, but in the end it worked out.

I think I've grown a lot by taking a step and working to design a project like this. I’m more confident with my leadership skills and ability to do work like this. I’m now unafraid to take the next steps and become an even bigger leader in my community. The Marine Plastic Program has definitely helped me grow that confidence and is a big reason I could stand in front of all those people and talk confidently about the plastic problem.

I plan to take my project to the next step. With the success of the event at the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry I hope to repeat the event at places like, Shedd Aquarium, Lincoln Park Zoo, and Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum as well as hosting more beach cleanups to show people the impact they can have on their surrounding natural spaces.