Citizen Science Initiative

CALLING CITIZEN SCIENTISTS TO TAKE ACTION 

Xstream Cleanup in coordination with Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative (MRCTI) is calling on Citizen Scientists to track marine litter in our area!  

Join us to make a big impact in our community by picking up litter and recording it using a Marine Debris Tracker App. No experience necessary. Download the app, pick up and record litter in any location, even while walking in your own neighborhood.  

Data Collection is part of an initiative to raise awareness about marine litter and single-use plastics as part of a grant awarded to the City that installed litter traps on three creeks in Davenport earlier this year. Debris cleanups and data collection offers citizen scientists the opportunity to be a part of the solution to marine litter. 

The Goal: Do a better job of prevention to reduce plastic pollution in our waterways, promote the health of nation's waters and aquatic life, and ensure future generations will have less picking up to do. It starts with data and awareness to better understand the issues we face today. 

WHAT IS 'CITIZEN SCIENCE'?

Xstream Cleanup has a long track record as a leader in keeping area watersheds clean. Now we are asking our volunteers to help us create a detailed picture of pollution in our area.

The task is too big for any one person or group to take on. But if we organize efficiently and work collectively we can quickly gather the data we need to make Xstream Cleanup and other environmental partners even more effective.

HOW IT WORKS

1. REGISTER for an existing event or go out and collect on your own. 

2. DOWNLOAD the "Marine Debris Tracker" for your mobile device: APPLE App Store | ANDROID Google Play

3. OPEN THE APP and select organization labeled Mississippi River Plastic Pollution/MRCTI

5. COLLECT LITTER & COLLECT DATA by logging what items you pick up in the Marine Debris Tracker app on your phone

--Marine Debris Tracker Field Guide available here--

WHY IT MATTERS

Thanks to Xstream Cleanup's many partners the data you collect will be combined with data throughout our region and throughout the Mississippi River Corridor. This information will be organized and analyzed in a massive database that's open to the public.

We can then use that information to better understand the worst problems in our area, zero in on the sources of pollution and create more intelligent waste reduction programs in the future.

Our goal is to do a better job of prevention so future generations will have less picking up to do. And that all starts with developing a better understanding of what we're facing right now.

Preventing More. Picking Up Less.