Trash and Microplastics

Loyola University Chicago & the School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Our River Ranger volunteers collect trash from the Chicago River, then count and categorize it based on type and material. Their data collection is based on protocols from Chicago’s Litter Task Force, a coalition of organizations working to reduce litter in the Chicago-Calumet river system. This data contributes to the work of Tim Hoellein at Loyola University, who looks specifically at sources of trash, and how litter and microplastics can effect ecosystems. Apart from contributing data to Chicago’s litter task force, students in Tim’s lab have been able to use the Wild Mile as a location for novel work on the relationship between plastics and the environment.

With the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, we take this a step further. Student Valerie is designing and building ‘Gregory the Goose’, a functional art piece that will help strain out various sizes of plastic, gathering good data and bringing attention to microplastics issues in a fun, visually appealing way.

Our River Ranger trash data is public, and updates over the course of the year! You can check it out below: