Elusive Ocean Trash - The North Atlantic Garbage Patch

1. Elusive Ocean Trash - The North Atlantic Garbage Patch A Public Policy Analyst (PPA) Approach to this social problem Mrs. Neesemann AP Environmental Science Bay Ridge Preparatory School Lneesemann@bayridgeprep.org

2. Trash is a problem! As our population increases, so too does the consumption of materials that must then be disposed of. Often times that disposal leads the trash into our oceans. 

3. Ocean currents The North Atlantic patch is estimated to be hundreds of km across,with a density of over 200,000 pieces of debris per square km.The debris zone shifts by as much as 1,600 km north and south seasonally, and drifts even farther south during El Nino times, according to NOAA.

4. The PPA – public policy analyst 6 Steps: you will use these steps to come up with policy options that might be implemented • Define the problem • Gather the Evidence • Identify the Causes • Evaluate an Existing Policy • Develop Solutions • Select the Best Solution

5. The PPA • Define the problem • Gather the Evidence • Identify the Causes • Evaluate an Existing Policy • Develop Solutions • Select the Best Solution

6. Define the Problem • Start by stating the problem • What is it? • Where does it occur? • What are undesirable consequences of this problem? • Define the Problem Worksheet

7. The PPA • Define the problem • Gather the Evidence • Identify the Causes • Evaluate an Existing Policy • Develop Solutions • Select the Best Solution

8. Gather Evidence • Do some research! • Google is a good place to start…but… • Statistics are better! • Surveys • Case Studies • Scholarly articles • Remember to cite your sources! • Gather Evidence Worksheet

9. The PPA • Define the problem • Gather the Evidence • Identify the Causes • Evaluate an Existing Policy • Develop Solutions • Select the Best Solution

10. Identify the Causes • What are the underlying factors? • Can you support those with evidence? • Identify the Cause Worksheet

11. The PPA • Define the problem • Gather the Evidence • Identify the Causes • Evaluate an Existing Policy • Develop Solutions • Select the Best Solution

12. Evaluate Exisiting Policies • What is one current policy to deal with trash in our oceans? • Advantages/Disadvantages to this policy? • Should this policy be replaced? Strengthened? Improved? • Evaluating Worksheet

13. The PPA • Define the problem • Gather the Evidence • Identify the Causes • Evaluate an Existing Policy • Develop Solutions • Select the Best Solution

14. DevelopSolutions • What are 3 new policies that could be implemented? • Who will be responsible for implementing this? • Which of your 3 policies do you think is the most promising? • Develop Solutions Worksheet

15. The PPA • Define the problem • Gather the Evidence • Identify the Causes • Evaluate an Existing Policy • Develop Solutions • Select the Best Solution

16. Select the Best Solution • Feasibility – how realistic is this idea? • Effectiveness – how well will it work? • Where does your policy fall into the matrix of these two parameters? • Select the Best Solution Worksheet

17. Share! Since we’ve all been working with the same problem, lets share each group’s best solution. What did you come up with??

18. Citations: • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Atlantic_garbage_patch • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Atlantic_Gyre • http://5gyres.org/ • http://geography.about.com/od/globalproblemsandissues/a/trashislands.htm • http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/smart-takes/massive-garbage-patch-discovered-in-atlantic-ocean-1000-miles-long/4804 • http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/03/100302-new-ocean-trash-garbage-patch/ • http://www2.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/ltgwestinghouse2/ltg.html