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Scripps-Rady Ocean Plastic Pollution Challenge White Papers
Rethink how we protect marine conservation and cultural areas from plastic pollution.
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2021 CHALLENGE WHITE PAPERS

The second component of the Scripps-Rady Challenge was team-based research from March - May, 2021. The 29 program participants conducted targeted research to address four distinct gaps in solving the plastics problem: changing human behavior, evaluating policy solutions, data mapping, and assessing residents’ attitudes towards plastic consumption and plastic waste reduction initiatives in the Challenge’s hometown of San Diego.

A mentor worked closely with each team to provide guidance and feedback. Teams produced a suite of white papers based on their research; each paper includes a current state of the team’s topic related to plastic pollution in California, an analysis of major knowledge gaps, and a novel contribution to the topic.  

The full white papers are available in an open access PDF format below. Consistent with the systems-thinking approach to tackling the issues of marine plastic pollution, the key findings of each white paper, taken together, contribute towards a suite of strategies to help California curb the flow of plastic into its coastal ocean.

Click to View / Download Summary of White Papers (PDF)
This document includes: 1) a synthesis of all the findings of the white papers, including a table that divides them by stakeholder groups, and 2) a summary of each paper’s major findings and recommendations:

**Advances toward solutions for marine plastic pollution in southern California: Key recommendations of the white papers produced during the 2021 Scripps-Rady Ocean Plastic Pollution Challenge

Click to View / Download White Papers (PDFs)

1. Leveraging Behavioral Intervention Frameworks to Change Households’ Plastic Consumption and Disposal Behaviors

2. Identifying and Mapping Inputs and Hotspots of Plastic Waste into the Pacific Ocean and Marine Protected Areas in the San Diego Region in California, USA

  • see the team's StoryMap presentation of findings

3. Evaluating Efficacy of Plastic Pollution Solutions in the Southern California Bight

4. San Diego County’s Residents’ Attitudes Towards Plastic Consumption and Plastic Waste Reduction Initiatives

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Photo credits, clockwise from top left: Holly Rindge; Holly Rindge; Scripps Institution of Oceanography; Jules Jackson.
Read the Challenge Blog to learn about the teams, finale, and final proposals!