Trash Free Hudson

Through advocacy, prevention, community education and stewardship, Riverkeeper is working towards a trash-free Hudson. Our annual day of service, Riverkeeper Sweep, has become a catalyst for sustained, year-round action. Recognizing that our local trash and marine debris is part of a global problem, we are expanding our efforts to stem the tide.

Trash enters the Hudson River and its tributaries from a variety of sources. Among these are litter picked up in wet weather and carried through storm drains, illegal dumping, and littering. Ultimately litter flows into the Atlantic Ocean contributing to a global problem known as marine debris. Marine debris harms wildlife threatens public health and impacts the economic vitality of Hudson River communities.

Riverkeeper is addressing this problem through volunteer opportunities, partnerships, and engagement with local, state and federal officials and agencies. This portal offers an introduction to marine debris pollution in the Hudson River and beyond. To learn more about this issue click on the sections below and take action.

• Riverkeeper Sweep: Annual Day of Service for the Hudson

  Save the date: Saturday, May 4, 2024 for the 13th Annual Riverkeeper Sweep! Information on leading a Sweep project, volunteering, or sponsoring will be coming soon.

  At the spring 2023 Riverkeeper Sweep held on Saturday, May 6, 2023, 2,500+ volunteers removed over 31 tons of trash from Brooklyn to the Adirondacks. Check out the results here >

• Debris Profile: What do we find?

  

  CR: Kathy Overington

  From observation by Riverkeeper experts on patrol and visual assessments from shoreline and river-based cleanup events we see a wide range of debris on the river. The National Marine Debris Monitoring Program (NMDMP) found that 49% of national surveyed debris has origins from land based sources. Since 2016, our annual day of service, the Riverkeeper Sweep has included a comprehensive data collection initiative where select sites inventory each piece of trash picked up during the cleanup. Learn more about the initiative and see our 2021 Comprehensive Data Collection Initiative results. We often see plastic bottles, polystyrene foam plastic (Styrofoam), bottle caps, plastic bags, cigarette butts, tires, polyethylene 55 gallon drums, blue dock foam, and micropastics*. Most to all of the debris found in the river is preventable. With education, care, and enforcement debris can be kept within the waste stream and out of the Hudson River. Learn more about the Urban-Coastal connection from this EPA fact sheet.

  According to the Ocean Conservancy’s Trash Free Seas 2020 Report, the most common items found in US waters are:

  1. Food Wrappers
  2. Cigarette butts
  3. Plastic beverage bottles
  4. Plastic beverage bottle caps
  5. Straws and stirrers
  6. Plastic cups and plates
  7. Plastic grocery bags
  8. Plastic takeout containers
  9. Other plastic bags
  10.Plastic lids

  During the 12th Riverkeeper Sweep on Saturday, May 6, 2023, volunteers removed 31 tons of litter from shorelines, streets, and parks, and planted or maintained over 900 native trees, shrubs, and flowers. Read more about our 12th Riverkeeper Sweep

• Health, Economy, and RecreationImpacts on Humans

  Many Hudson River communities benefit from a $4.75 billion tourism economy generated through the scenic beauty and recreational opportunities on the Hudson. The attractiveness of the river is greatly impacted by debris and effects common perceptions of the Hudson— leading to negative associations with the river.

  Debris is the most visible form of pollution on the Hudson and therefore litter prevention and cleanup marks a huge opportunity to improve the reputation and multi-billion dollar economic engine for Hudson River communities.

• Marine Debris Pollution ThreatImpacts on Wildlife

  Fish, birds, turtles and other wildlife can mistake small plastic pieces for food and the ingestion can lead to intestinal blockages causing injury or death. On June 2, 2016, the Guardian reported scientists have for the first time demonstrated the negative effects small pieces of plastic, particularly microbeads, have on fish These scientists subjected perch to microbeads, discovering that the larvae perch actually preferred the microbeads to their own natural food source and that perch that ate the microbeads often ignored the chemical warnings of a predatory fish attack resulting in the microbead fed perch being eaten four times quicker than normal perch. After 48 hours, all perch fed the microbeads were dead. To learn more behind the science of microbeads and their effect on ocean life watch this video.

  

  Polystyrene at Little Stony Point, Hudson Highlands State Park

  The Hudson River is also home to several species of mammals, including otters and seals. One common mammal is the Harbor Seal. In a study of injection of plastic of Harbor Seals in the Netherlands, researchers found over 12% of the Harbor Seals in their sample contained plastic in their stomachs and intestines. It is important to note that the Hudson River is a different environment from the studies listed above. However, the large body of evidence available on plastics’ impact on wildlife globally should raise concerns about impacts on Hudson River wildlife.

  A recent study published in PLOS One estimates global waters contain over 5 trillion particles of plastic, weighing over 250,000 tons. However, local citizens are demanding change and driving local solutions to this global problem.

   

• Fighting Pollution from DC to City Hall to Hudson River ShoresWhat is Riverkeeper doing?

  The EPA Trash Free Waters Working Group
  Riverkeeper has joined the EPA’s Trash Free Waters working group bringing together scientists, government and advocacy groups to address global and local problems.

  Supporting Local and Statewide Policies
  Riverkeeper is supporting a number of measures to reduce the amount of trash and debris entering our watershed.

  Supporting statewide single-use plastic bag reduction policy
  Thanks to successful advocacy efforts, New York will become the second state in the nation, following California, to place a ban on single-use plastic bags. The ban goes into effect on March 1, 2020. The new law seeks to address some 23 billion single-use plastic bags New Yorkers use every year. We encourage local government to opt-in to the critical fee on paper that will encourage consumers to use reusable shopping bags.

  Scentist Action and Advocacy Network: Scientific Support for a Plastic Bag Reduction Law

  Phasing out Single-Use Plastic Bags at the Ossining Farmers Market and supporting Local Regulation of Polystyrene (Styrofoam)
  In August 2014, Riverkeeper with Down to Earth Markets, Green Ossining and ECOBAGS® forged the BYOBag coalition. The goal of the coalition was to dramatically reduce the amount of single-use plastic bags consumed at the Ossining Farmers Market. The staff at Down to Earth Markets estimated that annually the Ossining Market distributed over 64,000 single-use plastic bags passed from vendors to shoppers. Initial results of the BYOBag pilot program place a 60-70% reduction in single-use plastic bags. Read about this success story here.

  Riverkeeper Supports a New York State Ban on Microbeads

  “We and many others have worked for decades, and huge strides have been made, to return the Hudson River to a fishable, swimmable, drinkable waterway, a goal that is once again being put at risk by micro bead plastic pollution that threatens wildlife and public health. We strongly support Attorney General Schneiderman’s legislation which will ban this unnecessary source of contamination that cannot be cleaned up and will persist for centuries if its flow into the Hudson and other precious New York waters is not stopped.”– Hudson Riverkeeper, Paul Gallay

  Congress Passes Microbeads Trash Free Waters Act of 2015

  In December 2015 Congress passed the Microbeads Trash Free Waters Act of 2015 bans microbeads, which are commonly used as abrasives in beauty and health products by July 2017. Growing numbers of local and state bans across the country motivated support of the law. Riverkeeper worked on local and state legislation banning microbeads prior to the passage of the federal legislation.

  Learn more about Microbeads and the proposed legislation in this blog post

  Supporting Polystyrene Bans in Ulster, Putnam and Beyond
  Riverkeeper spoke out in support of polystyrene bans in Ulster County and Putnam County. Read more at our blog.

• Prevention, Advocacy, Cleanup, Raise Awareness.What YOU Can Do

  Riverkeeper can’t do this work alone. We depend on each and every one of you to help us clean up solid waste pollution out of the Hudson and to help prevent it from returning.

  Learn more about ways you can make an impact on your community to combat marine debris.

• Follow the Lead of NYC, Albany, Ulster, and Putnam CountiesPass a Law in Your Community

  Hudson Valley residents have a large role to play in local policymaking. Many of the polystyrene and plastic bag laws began when a concerned citizen organized their neighbors and approached their local elected officials with a plan.

  How to pass a resolution:
  1) Start with a small group of advocates
  2) Adapt existing resolutions to your local laws and problems
  3) Identify a target committee at the municipal or county level
  4) Find a sponsor within the identified committee to move the resolution forward
  5) Build support for your resolution. Show up to committee meetings and hearings on the issue, and invite Riverkeeper to join you!

  Our friends at the Surfrider Foundation have created a handy toolkit with steps on how to build a polystyrene and plastic bag campaign.
  Access Surfrider’s toolkit here.
  

  Additionally, below we’ve included legislation you can help support and legislation previously passed in communities up and down the Hudson in municipalities and counties.

  Please send a message to the Governor and your state representatives, urging them to support the Bigger Better Bottle Bill, which would expand New York State’s bottle deposit program and keep plastic bottle pollution out of our waterways.

  On March 17, 2015, the Ulster County Legislature voted to ban polystyrene products in all food service establishments and county government facilities, after the urging of county residents and Riverkeeper.

  In March 2015, the Putnam County Legislature took a first step by banning polystyrene in government facilities. The law takes effect this June. Riverkeeper submitted a letter of support for this effort.

  In June 2014, Hastings-on-Hudson became the first municipality in Westchester County to simultaneously ban single-use plastic bags and polystyrene food containers. The law went into effect at the first of the year.

  The Village of New Paltz in Ulster County banned single-use plastic bags last November. The law went into effect April, 2015.

  Albany County banned polystyrene in chain restaurants in December 2013, and the law went into effect a month later.

  New York City’s food service establishments, stores and manufacturers may not possess, sell, or offer for use single-service polystyrene foam articles or loose fill packaging, such as “packing peanuts” in New York City by January 2016. The law was passed in December 2013 and goes fully into effect in January 2016 after a six-month grace period beginning in this summer.

• Dive inResources to Learn More

  Please visit these resources to learn more about litter and debris in our waterways.

  NOAA Marine Debris Program

  EPA Marine Debris Toolkit

  Gregory, M. R. (2009). Environmental implications of plastic debris in marine settings—entanglement, ingestion, smothering, hangers-on, hitch-hiking and alien invasions. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 364(1526), 2013-2025

  Rochman, C. M., Hoh, E., Kurobe, T., & Teh, S. J. (2013). Ingested plastic transfers hazardous chemicals to fish and induces hepatic stress. Scientific reports, 3.

  Elisa L. Bravo Rebolledo, Jan A. Van Franeker, Okka E. Jansen, Sophie M.J.M. Brasseur, Plastic ingestion by harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) in The Netherlands, Marine Pollution Bulletin, Volume 67, Issues 1–2, 15 February 2013, Pages 200-202, ISSN 0025-326X,

Blog posts from Riverkeeper
•  The problems with bottled water
•  5 things you can do to reduce plastic pollution
•  Scientists study microplastics in New York’s waterways