Today we’d like to introduce you to Tricia Monteleone.
Hi Tricia, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Plastic Ocean Project started in a classroom, our founder, Bonnie Monteleone, went back to school at 50 to get a masters. She was tasked to read “Plastic Ocean” by Susan Casey, and couldn’t believe what she was reading. It brought her back to being a child and her mom opening a ground beef package saying “I heard this stuff sticks around for a long time” about the styrofoam. The article inspired her to reach out to Captain Charles Moore, the subject of the article and the man credited with sounding the alarm on the growing problem in our oceans. In reaching out, Bonnie, found out they were about to set sail from Hawaii to California in a anniversary sail from the first discovery of the “garbage patch,” and Capt. Moore invited her to join them. Never having sailed before she packed her bags and found herself on a 50′ catamaran in the middle of the North Pacific taking samples of the water and pulling out ghost nets, plastics of all varieties and even a toilet seat. Seeing the problem in person lit a fire in Bonnie, in that fire Plastic Ocean Project (POP) was formed. We had to find ways to educate people on the problem and the best way we could find was through art, so out of the plastics that were captured Bonnie created “What Goes Around, Comes Around.” That art exhibit traveled around the United States and taught thousands of people about plastics in our environment. From there we needed to study it more, so creating a research lab for students to study the effects of plastics, and solutions to plastic became the next step. From there we just kept growing, we started more programs to try to mitigate waste and our effect on our environment. For instance, Trees4Trash, a program we started after Hurricane Florence and a 3000 pound cleanup. For every 25 pounds of trash we collect at our cleanups we plant a tree as of today we are at nearly 80,000 pounds of trash and over 3000 trees planted. Another program is Ocean Friendly Establishments, businesses can apply and tell us ways they are mitigating waste in there business and we certify them and depending on how much they are doing we rate them in a star system. We have over 300 businesses certified with ratings of one star to five star establishments. We have thousands of volunteers and a small but mighty staff that help make what we do possible. It has been amazing to watch one persons passion fuel a community of helpers dedicated to protecting our environment.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Nothing worth doing is ever a smooth road, there have definitely been challenges along the way. One that comes to readily to mind is we have a Microscopic FTIR, a very sensitive microscope that has to be in a controlled environment. The lab space we were renting could not control the humidity in the building and it took the FTIR out. We had to move the microscope out of the space and spent a good amount of funds on repairs for the system and the FTIR was out of commission for months delaying much of our research. Luckily we have fantastic supporters who helped us and today we have our own lab space that we can control all the elements in ourselves. There have been many more adventures and creative fixes along the way, but we are grateful to be here and doing the work we are doing.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Plastic Ocean Project is a nonprofit based in Wilmington, North Carolina, dedicated to confronting the plastic‑pollution crisis through a blend of science, creativity, education, and community action. Their mission is to develop science‑based solutions to plastic pollution and to encourage individuals, businesses, and communities to make choices that safeguard both environmental and human health. At the heart of POP is the vision of “a world free of plastic pollution,” underpinned by core values such as inclusion, collaboration, transparency, scientific innovation, artistic creativity, and sustainability. Our programs set us apart, Trees4Trash for every 25 pounds of trash we collect we plant a tree. This program is taking what doesn’t belong in the environment and putting back what does. Our Trash’n Fash’n event highlights the issues of fast fashion while engaging community through the art of the “fash’n” participants create. Ocean Friendly Establishments works with businesses to help mitigate the waste created in their industries. Our focus on collaboration helps us team up with universities and other non-profits conducting research to better understand the problem and create solutions.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Our goal is to put ourselves out of business, so to speak, to help create closed loop systems that we are no longer polluting our environment and we have finished the job. In the meantime, success is when we have reached someone who had no idea about plastics and the effects on our environment, or when we teach them how to plant a tree. One of my favorite success stories is from our Trees4Trash initiative, which is our program that for every 25 pounds of trash our cleanups collect we plant a tree. Our partnership with the Live Oak Bank’s “Environmental Working Group” and Habitat For Humanity provided us with a beautiful opportunity. With Live Oak Bank volunteers, we were able to collect enough trash in our cleanup to plant nine trees. When looking for a place to home these trees we were offered the opportunity to help make a Habitat for Humanity neighborhood come alive and plant the trees there. We were able to plant with the volunteers and residents who will be moving into the neighborhood, teaching the new homeowners and their children how to plant trees so they can continue the efforts in the future. It was a delight to watch the kid’s eyes light up, get digging in the dirt and getting the roots ready to plant. We are so grateful for the opportunity that day to do what we love most, collaborate with other local nonprofits. We were able to marry our environmental work with affordable housing. Making this new neighborhood more climate resilient, aesthetically pleasing and healthier for the new residents.
Pricing:
- No pricing, donations always welcome
- Grant collaborations always welcome
Contact Info:
- Website: https://plasticoceanproject.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/plasticoceanproject.inc/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/plasticoceanproject.inc
- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/plasticoceanproject/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@POP-yy7co
