Since marine pollution starts on land, solutions must also start on land. When plastics enter the waterways, they eventually make their way to the ocean, becoming marine debris and harming ocean ecosystems. These plastics become difficult to remove because they break down into microplastics, sink, or collect in gyres far from shore. Thus, reduction of plastic consumption is the most effective way to reduce plastic pollution. Remora is an innovative mobile phone application designed to prevent debris from entering the environment by reducing the consumption of single-use plastics, such as water bottles and snack wrappers. Gamification approaches, including leaderboards and badges, encourage users to continue to engage with the app and report their plastic consumption. This leads to individual accountability, commitment to long-term change, and community attitude shifts toward pro-environmental behavior. Additionally, in-app messaging about plastic pollution and ocean health supports this outcome. Remora builds a database of plastic uses and refusals by plastic type and location. To date, plastic cups and snack wrappers are the most used items, whereas water bottles and grocery bags are the most refused items. Additionally, the greatest proportion of uses were logged at shops and restaurants and the greatest proportion of refusals were logged at grocery stores. These data can be used to generate change by encouraging companies to reduce single-use plastic production, as well as influencing governmental policy change, reducing the amount of single-use plastic available. Remora targets the source of plastic debris in the ocean by reducing the amount of plastic consumed.

For more information: npaoli@eckerd.edu,  aabaumga@eckerd.edu, ceharshbarger@eckerd.edu, rasmith1@eckerd.edu, eoliver@eckerd.edu, siudaan@eckerd.edu, gowanss@eckerd.edu

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