GA
( GLOBAL ALERT )
Critical Need - Floating Trash
You can be a steward for our waters by using the Global Alert app to report trash hotspots anywhere in the world's waters and coastlines. Your photos, geotagged information and simple descriptions of the trash volumes and conditions can make a big impact to help stakeholders in the community to decide where and when to hold cleanups, how to create management programs (with booms, nets and catchment devices in rivers or creeks), and prevention programs. Ask us if you need ideas on creating booms or nets as well: info@globalalert.org
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It's easy to engage your community, employee groups, teams, youth groups, NGO's, businesses, governments or schools, with regular reporting on the Global Alert app. Not everyone has to do it, but it should be regular, and in coordination with at least one stakeholder in the community who can do something about cleaning or preventing it in the future. Download these links to see an example of using Global Alert in Cambodia, and one here with a community in Indonesia.
You can download the Global Alert app from either app store via the QR code below. You can also use the website to load photos and data, without a smartphone.
See Our New Short Film,
Streams of Plastic
Global Alert Launch - Times Square, NY
Intro Video for Use of the Global Alert App
Rivers are like arteries that flow into the heart, the ocean. The Global Alert platform links stakeholders of inland watersheds, anywhere in the world, with the ocean.
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Healthy marine and coastal ecosystems are critical to all life on earth and provide necessary services, including food security, resources for economic growth, recreation and tourism, all of which can hinder or benefit the welfare of the coastline itself. Roughly 8 million tons of plastic enters the oceans each year. The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) has estimated that over 70% of marine debris starts out on land. From there it makes its way into the lakes, rivers and streams that form an extensive network that can carry trash across continents and straight into the heart of the world's ocean. Floating trash has no geographic or political boundaries, so solutions must involve scalable international collaboration, yet be local in scope and reach.
Riverbanks are actually inland coastlines. Normal coastlines defined by the ocean total about 217,000 miles, however, when you consider that each river has two "riverbanks," each bank is also a part of the coastline. This inland coastline can reach far into the heart of a country and can be a conduit for floating trash to reach the ocean. By totaling the length of the riverbanks from the world's 20 longest rivers alone, we add an additional 86,000+ miles of "coastline" connecting to many of our communities, which is equal to the distance of going around the world more than three times! Global Alert was developed through funding provided by the Global Partnership for Oceans (GPO), and under the strategic objectives of the Plastic Waste Management Program, as part of the GPO Pollution Component.
