Trash Monitoring Workgroup

Mission

The mission of the California Trash Monitoring Workgroup (Trash Workgroup) is to support current practices and advances in trash monitoring and the development of data analysis and visualization tools aimed at assessing the effectiveness of policies and practices for limiting the amounts of trash in the environment. This mission will be fulfilled by providing a forum for discussion, coordination and technical exchanges by a variety of organizations, including government agencies, academic institutions and non-governmental agencies. The Trash Workgroup will review current policies and practices for reducing trash and the use of monitoring data to improve the knowledge needed to accomplish the goals of this group and to inform policy makers and those affected.

Charter
References

Objectives

The Trash Workgroup will provide recommendations on trash monitoring, assessment, and reporting with attention paid to telling stories around trash to inform policy. Objectives for the Trash Workgroup include:

  • Support agency programs that monitor for trash and provide public data.
  • Promote implementation and continued refinement of standardized trash monitoring methods.
  • Communicate trash monitoring assessment information to agency staff and decision makers at the federal, state, and local levels.
  • Compile information on existing trash monitoring programs and activities and make that information available through the California Trash Monitoring Methods Project.
  • Develop, recommend, and provide guidance for implementation of approaches and/or data standards to improve data sharing among Trash Workshop partners.
  • Serve the ongoing purposes of the California Water Quality Monitoring Council.

Learn more about the connections between the Trash Monitoring Workgroup and related efforts

Chair:

Shelly Moore, Moore Institute for Plastic Pollution Research - shelly@mooreplasticresearch.org