Relevant News About the Great Lakes + Plastic Pollution

Three Waters Foundation Executive Director and founder Scott Parent is a recipient of the 2024/25 Trebek Initiative in support of his upcoming film about aquatic birds and plastic pollution. The National Geographic Society and The Royal Canadian Geographical Society launched this grant-making partnership for storytellers, researchers, conservationists and educators in 2021, reinvigorating their long-standing collaborative efforts. 

Two years ago, the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) decided on a mandate to create the world’s first Plastics Treaty, a legally binding international law aimed at reducing plastic pollution worldwide, and covering the full life-cycle of plastic. Plastic is a growing crisis with devastating impact on the environment, human health, human rights, environmental justice, the rights of Indigenous Peoples, biodiversity, and climate. 

The Great Lakes Plastic Cleaup is a first-of-its-kind initiative using innovative technology to quickly remove plastics at marinas from Lake Ontario to Lake Superior and everywhere in between. Recently, plastic-collecting sea bins were installed at additional Georgian Bay marinas.

A new study in the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences has found plastic is making its way into double-crested cormorants in the Great Lakes.