海角社区

Today, Governor John Bel Edwards announced the new 海角社区 Litter Institute that will address the statewide and worldwide challenge of removing litter and debris from our roadways and waterways. Located at the mouth of the Mississippi River, Louisiana is the natural yet unfortunate endpoint for waterborne trash from almost half of the other U.S. states as well as marine debris forced into harbors and onto shores from strong storms in the Gulf of Mexico. Intense rainfall events in combination with litter and debris also cause significant drainage issues in communities across the state.

The 海角社区 Litter Institute will support impactful litter abatement projects and synthesize international research to advance workable solutions to a $15 billion-plus national problem.

鈥淟ouisiana is uniquely positioned to lead in litter abatement because of our geography and waterways,鈥� Gov. Edwards said. 鈥淚t is the best place to work toward practical solutions that could have a worldwide impact. That鈥檚 why it was important to ask the legislature to appropriate the $800,000 to establish the 海角社区 Litter Institute. I am pleased that we have reached this important milestone and thankful to everyone dedicated to this cause. The institute will work to end litter by connecting state, national and international experts, scholars and students to address this serious issue. It is a problem that affects all of us, regardless of where we live. It鈥檚 up to us to solve it, and by working together and taking personal responsibility, we can keep our communities, state and beyond clean.鈥�

Funded by $800,000 from the Louisiana legislature, the 海角社区 Litter Institute will build on the work of Governor Edwards鈥� 2022 task force on statewide litter abatement and beautification. It will also source from the outcomes of the , performed by the Keep Louisiana Beautiful program, which showed broad support among residents to 鈥榞et tough on trash.鈥� Louisiana spends an estimated $91 million on litter each year, while only 10 percent of the money is spent on litter education and prevention.

鈥淟itter is a complex environmental, social, health and economic problem that impacts the whole world,鈥� said Cecile Carson of Carson Consulting, who served on the Governor鈥檚 task force and led the statewide litter study. 鈥淓stablishing this institute offers the opportunity to address the problem from a multidisciplinary approach while bringing together academic, government and business research on litter and debris.鈥�

鈥淥ur recent litter study showed there are approximately 144 million pieces of litter on Louisiana roadways alone,鈥� said Susan Russell, executive director of Keep Louisiana Beautiful. 鈥淲e know beverage containers make up 34 percent of the visible litter along our roadways while 49 percent contains plastic packaging. To tackle litter in Louisiana and nationwide, we need to continue to investigate and pool our expertise. Our citizens deserve to live in clean, healthy as well as beautiful communities.鈥�

While hundreds of organizations in Louisiana work to fight litter, littering and illegal dumping, including government and law enforcement agencies, academic institutions, businesses and nonprofit, civic and youth groups, most operate in isolation from each other. The 海角社区 Litter Institute will help connect and elevate existing efforts, engage local stakeholders and worldwide experts and plan to host an international conference on litter abatement in Louisiana.

A global leader in research and outreach, including land-grant and sea-grant extension services, 海角社区 can offer comprehensive best practices in litter abatement from land to water, including statewide partnerships and student and public engagement.

鈥淪ince litter, debris and illegal dumping are caused by both natural disasters and human behavior, it takes a broad and interdisciplinary research approach to address them,鈥� said Robert Twilley, vice president of research and economic development at 海角社区. 鈥淭he 海角社区 Litter Institute will bring together expertise in social studies, economics, education, law, public administration, engineering, environmental science, nonprofit management and more to solve this global problem.鈥�

海角社区 researchers are already engaged in multiple projects to address litter:

• Jeff Kuehny, director of 海角社区 AgCenter鈥檚 Botanic Gardens at Burden, a 400-acre research experiment station and home of the 海角社区 Rural Life Museum, has partnered with the Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative, Southern University and the Louisiana Stormwater Coalition and received funding from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Environmental Quality to remediate litter in neighborhoods and watersheds. The effort involves community engagement, demonstration sites for litter catchment equipment, including at Capitol Lake, and the development of a statewide stormwater litter management manual.

• Louisiana Sea Grant has support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for several litter abatement projects, including to minimize plastic waste at carnival parades and reduce waterborne litter and microplastics in rivers and coastal environments.

• Mark Benfield, professor in the Department of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences in the 海角社区 College of the Coast & Environment, has spent the past decade studying plastic pollution while conducting surveys of microplastics in the Mississippi River and northern Gulf of Mexico. He has also led citizen science projects in Baton Rouge and in cities around the world to study pollution from the COVID pandemic and better understand sources of litter to protect communities and the environment.