Sharon Treaster and her granddaughter Paisley Machost, both of Ledyard, CT, show their “Protect Our Wildlife” stickers while at a visit to Bluff Point State Park in Groton. Credit: Judy Benson / Connecticut Sea Grant

Contact: 

Jimena Perez-Viscasillas, Long Island Sound Study Outreach Coordinator, New York Sea Grant, E: jbp255@cornell.edu, P: (631) 632-8730

Stony Brook, NY, August 16, 2021 - It’s that time of year again where we remind those that enjoy the Long Island Sound to #DontTrashLISound! 

For this fifth consecutive year of the #DontTrashLISound social media campaign — organized by New York Sea Grant (NYSG) and Connecticut Sea Grant (CTSG) with support from Long Island Sound Study (LISS); the Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk, CT; Save the Sound; and other groups — partners focus on hope for reducing plastic pollution in the estuary by highlighting positive steps people are taking to address the issue. 

You can help increase the campaign’s educational impact by sharing posts to your networks starting on August 16th through International Coastal Cleanup Day on September 18th. 

"Plastic pollution is one of those issues that can easily feel overwhelming, but there is actually a great deal of good news to be shared," says LISS Outreach Coordinator Jimena Perez-Viscasillas, a NYSG Cornell Cooperative Extension specialist based at Stony Brook University. “Our hope for this year’s campaign is to shed light on some of that exciting work being done here — and around the world — to encourage people to remain hopeful and proactive in their environmental stewardship.” 

Messages on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram will inspire people to #DoOneThing to reduce plastic pollution in their communities. Success stories, local leaders, and marine debris prevention and cleanup efforts will shine a positive light on what is being done to combat this everyday issue. There are solutions and alternatives that Long Island communities can use to prevent the tons of plastic that enter Long Island Sound and harm our wildlife. 

In addition to sharing posts, followers can also take advantage of in-person events this summer. 

— The campaign kicks off with a cleanup event on August 16th at Sherwood Island State Park in Westport, CT with Connecticut Sea Grant (CTSG), Save the Sound, and the Maritime Aquarium.  

— On August 30th, there will be a beach cleanup at Hallock State Park Preserve in Riverhead, NY with NYSG, LISS, and Atlantic Marine Conservation Society — see flyer for details (pdf).

— And, to close out the campaign celebration, join any local cleanup event held on International Coastal Cleanup Day on September 18th! 



The ultimate goal of this campaign is to inspire people to clean up trash on the beaches, avoid single-use plastics, and reduce the amount of plastic pollution in the Sound. 

Educational campaigns like these can help create stewards that do good for our environment. Previous years of the #DontTrashLISound campaign focused on themes such as #BreaktheSingle-UsePlasticHabit and #ProtectOurWildlife. Last year during the COVID pandemic, the campaign highlighted the increased litter of PPE and advised how to properly dispose of synthetically made masks and opt for reusable cloth masks instead. 

Remember the popular “Protect Our Wildlife” stickers from past campaigns? They are still available this year. You can place this sticker on your reusable water bottle and snap a photo of you with your water bottle at your favorite beach along the Long Island Sound to help spread the message. These stickers will be provided at the in-person events this year, or you can request one by emailing LISS Outreach Coordinator Jimena Perez-Viscasillas at jbp255@cornell.edu or CTSG Communications Coordinator Judy Benson at judy.benson@uconn.edu.

“Campaigns like this one help keep people aware of the larger marine debris problem affecting Long Island Sound,” said Nancy Balcom, CTSG's Associate Director. “They also help people focus on doable actions that we can all undertake with as much or as little effort as we have time to commit.”

Help spread the word this year and remember, #DontTrashLISound!

You can check out posts from the campaign using #DontTrashLISound on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. More information on the campaign can be found at www.DontTrashLISound.net.


More Info: Long Island Sound Study

Long Island Sound is one of the 28 nationally designated estuaries under the National Estuary Program (NEP), which was established by Congress in 1987 to improve the quality of Long Island Sound and other places where rivers meet the sea. 

The Long Island Sound Study is a cooperative effort sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency and the states of Connecticut and New York to restore and protect the Sound and its ecosystems. The restoration work is guided by a Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan under four themes: Clean Waters and Healthy Watersheds; Thriving Habitats and Abundant Wildlife; Sustainable and Resilient Communities; and Sound Science and Management.

For more on what you can do to make a difference, click over to the "Get Involved" or "Stewardship" sections of the Long Island Sound Study's website. News on the Long Island Sound Study can also be found in New York Sea Grant's related archives.

If you would like to receive Long Island Sound Study's newsletter, please visit their site's homepage and sign up for the "e-news/print newsletter" under the "Stay Connected" box.


More Info: New York Sea Grant

New York Sea Grant (NYSG), a cooperative program of Cornell University and the State University of New York (SUNY), is one of 34 university-based programs under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Sea Grant College Program.

Since 1971, NYSG has represented a statewide network of integrated research, education and extension services promoting coastal community economic vitality, environmental sustainability and citizen awareness and understanding about the State’s marine and Great Lakes resources.

Through NYSG’s efforts, the combined talents of university scientists and extension specialists help develop and transfer science-based information to many coastal user groups—businesses and industries, federal, state and local government decision-makers and agency managers, educators, the media and the interested public.

The program maintains Great Lakes offices at Cornell University, University at Buffalo, SUNY Oswego and the Wayne County Cooperative Extension office in Newark. In the State's marine waters, NYSG has offices at Stony Brook University in Long Island, Brooklyn College and Cornell Cooperative Extension in NYC and Elmsford and Kingston in the Hudson Valley.

For updates on Sea Grant activities: www.nyseagrant.org has RSS, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube links. NYSG offers a free e-list sign up via www.nyseagrant.org/nycoastlines for its flagship publication, NY Coastlines/Currents, which is published quarterly.