Other related projects that are implemented in our school are the Baltic Sea Project and ProBlue Project Activities, including the production of bioplastics.
Plastic pirates – Go Europe!
Lithuania
Lithuania is part of the "Plastic Pirates – Go Europe!" project since 2022.
Prienai "Žiburys" gymnasium joined the project in the autumn of 2023.
METODS:
The first group collected litter in an area of 50 x 20 meters on the chosen riverbank.
The third group collected microplastics by filtering river water with a mesh filter for one hour.
The second group collected litter in 9 circles of 3 m in diameter, drawn every 20m along the riverbank.
The experiment concluded that the pollution in single-use plastic affected the banks of the Nemunas river and the Peršekė stream almost equally (31 % and 32 % accordingly). Also that the share of single-use plastic in total litter at the both of these rivers were larger than on the bank of Revuona stream (10 %). The most common types of plastic litter in all three cases were fast food packaging and plastic bags.
Given the location of the rivers and the number of visitors, it can be assumed that farming activities, recreational fishing and a high number of visitors may contribute to the litter on the banks of the rivers under study.
Add more litter bins, get involved in educational initiatives, and organize more environmental clean-up campaigns.
Insights and continuity
PURPOSE:
Samplings still on the way in the autumn of 2024!
Comparison of the litter content of different riverside areas of Prienai and Lithuania. The share of weight of collected single-use plastic in total collected litter weight, %
Our work was to assess the garbage pollution on the banks of the Nemunas river, the Revuona, and the Peršekė streams in the town of Prienai.
A look at the research:
The project “Plastic pirates – Go Europe!” has been very engaging and should definitely be continued!