We’ve all seen the stories about plastic pollution in the ocean. But the journey of plastic pollution begins much farther inland, passing directly through cities and communities that depend on those waterways. 

Along the way, microplastics contaminate drinking water, freshwater habitats, and food systems long before it reaches the coast. In fact, nearly 80% of marine plastic originates from land-based products, with rivers serving as one of the main pathways transporting it to the ocean. 

Researchers have documented impacts from plastic pollution in inland cities like St. Louis, Baton Rouge, and around Lake Mead. Fortunately, local organizations and community leaders are working to reduce plastic pollution at its source, thus protecting waterways and communities upstream. 

Caught in the Current

The Mississippi River is one of the most studied rivers in the country when it comes to plastic, and the numbers show a growing problem. Scientists sampling the river found that microplastic levels actually increase as the river passes through St. Louis on its way south instead of thinning out. Researchers at St. Louis University discovered 237 different types of microplastics in riverbed sediment across the Meramec watershed, connecting contamination to nearby land use and local pollution sources.

To tackle the problem, the city joined the Mississippi River Plastic Pollution Initiative partnering with other mayors along the river to volunteer to track and log plastic waste through a simple smartphone app. Locally, organizations like the Missouri Confluence Waterkeeper map where plastics show up the most with the bigger goal as organizers from the University City’s Department of Public works state “preventing more, picking up less,” putting pressure on companies that contribute to the creation of the world’s single-use plastics in the first place.

Hooked on Plastic 

The city of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, sits along a stretch of the Mississippi near a major petrochemical corridor; here, plastics have already made it into the food system. The lower Mississippi River carries around 328 billion microplastic particles into the Gulf of Mexico each year. Water samples that were collected upstream and downstream from Baton Rouge all contained concentrations of microplastics. 

The evidence doesn’t stop at the water’s surface. Microplastics have been found in four freshwater fish species from the Mississippi River, including bluegill and largemouth bass, showing that plastic pollution has already worked its way into the food web. The pattern continues in nearby St. Francisville where 12.66% of sampled fish contained microplastics, underscoring how plastic pollution is affecting aquatic life in the lower Mississippi River.  

Taking matters into their own hands, Baton Rouge residents formed the Louisiana Stormwater Coalition, an all-volunteer group that organizes regular cleanups along waterways like the Bayou Fountain and assisted in the development of a stormwater litter management plan. The coalition partnered with local organizations to install a 75 foot litter catcher that captures floating plastic before it reaches other downstream locations. 

Drinking Downstream 

Out west, the source of pollution looks different but the risk may even be more personal. The Colorado River moves through farms, cities, and deserts before flowing into Lake Mead, a reservoir that supplies drinking water to nearly 25 million people across the Southwest. 

Microplastics have been found throughout the reservoir’s water and lakebed with one sediment core preserving nearly 19 years of plastic buildup. Much of that contamination has been traced back to Las Vegas Wash, a channel that carries treated wastewater from four treatment plants. 

The problem reaches far beyond Lake Mead. A separate survey detected microplastics in every Colorado river and stream sampled, highlighting the scale of contamination across a watershed that supplies water to around 40 million people and supports 5.5 million acres of farmland.

Communities across the Colorado River Basin are responding by monitoring plastic pollution and restoring waterways before contaminants spread farther downstream. Volunteers and local organizations like Environment Colorado continue to document the presence of microplastics in waterways. At the same time, long term restoration efforts along the Las Vegas Wash work to improve water quality by stabilizing streambanks and restoring wetlands before water enters Lake Mead. Together these efforts recognize that protecting drinking water begins long before it reaches the tap. 

You Don’t Need a Coastline to Take Action

The stories of St. Louis, Baton Rouge, and Lake Mead show that inland communities are not waiting for plastic pollution to reach the coast before taking action. Across the country residents, researchers, and local organizations are finding new ways to track and reduce plastic pollution before it enters rivers, reservoirs, and food systems. 

The fight against plastic pollution begins with you. Visit EARTHDAY.ORG’S the Great Global Cleanup map to find a cleanup near you or register one in your own community. 

EARTHDAY.ORG is the driving force behind the Earth Day movement year-round. You can have articles like this emailed to your inbox by signing up for our email list. Make sure to also check out our social media at X, Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube for environmental news and information straight from the Earth Day source.

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Although New York’s popular characterization as a “concrete jungle” may not immediately lead you to think of its “climate action” pedigree, New York City is firmly at the center of the climate conversation.  

So it is worth noting that this week is Climate Week New York City, a celebration of climate progress and innovation that extends far beyond the scope of the city’s own famous five boroughs. With world leaders in attendance, such as Kenyan president, H.E. Dr. William Ruto, and deputy first director of Deutsche Bundesbank, Sabine Mauderer, some of the world’s biggest leaders are tackling some of the planet’s biggest climate challenges in the city that never sleeps.

But here at EARTHDAY.ORG, we have always been about grassroots activism, so this NYC Climate Week, let’s shed some light on the localized environmental work that is making NYC greener.

Reimagining Brooklyn’s Skyline – Brooklyn

Historically, Brooklyn’s Sunset Park, on the western waterfront with views of New York Harbor, was the industrial heart of the city, and a critical center of shipping and manufacturing during the Second World War and postwar period. In recent decades, however, the neglected waterfront has fallen into disrepair. 

As industrial and manufacturing jobs dissipated in the area, three ‘natural’ gas plants moved in, and the majority-Latino residents of Sunset Park were left to live in the pollution these plants belched out. Operated mainly during periods of high electricity demand, they burn fossil fuels, primarily gas, and in the process release harmful pollutants such as nitrogen oxides (NOx) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) into the air. These pollutants contribute to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases and worsen air quality. Besides emitting these primary pollutants, the power plants  contribute to the formation of ground-level ozone and fine particulate matter, which are linked to serious health problems. The neighborhood stands as a quintessential example of how environmental injustice happens.

Elizabeth Yeampirre, a civil rights lawyer and director of UPROSE, one of New York’s most prominent environmental justice organizations, has fought long and hard against the disenfranchisement of local people.

Over the course of 30 years, UPROSE has successfully doubled Sunset Park’s green space, and recently, launched a community solar initiative. Admirably persistent, UPROSE continues to better the lives of Sunset Park community members, and the arrival of a new, major green infrastructure project to the neighborhood is projected to rapidly accelerate the organization’s vision of a green, just future. 

In 2017, Norwegian energy company Equinor proposed a large-scale offshore wind farm centered around Sunset Park. The project, aptly named Empire Wind, is set to not only help diversify and clean up New York City’s energy mix, but it has already begun providing jobs for thousands. 

To construct the farm itself, Equinor has already employed over 1,500 people, with thousands more jobs created in association with the project’s supply chain and equipment production. 

Although stalled by a stop-work order issued by the Department of the Interior, the now-resumed Empire Wind venture shows the positive future of green energy projects, even in the most unconventional of locations. 

Not only will the wind farm work to reverse years of fossil fuel-induced community harm, but it is also working to actively integrate the Sunset Park community into the green economy. Often posed as mere means of cleaner energy generation, renewables are far more than that, intersecting with social and economic issues as well.

Cloudbursts in Queens – Queens

Cloudbursts are characterized by a sudden, high density of rainfall in a short period of time. As climate change produces more extreme weather patterns, these downpours pose a real problem for cities such as New York, which often lack the infrastructure to effectively handle so much rainfall in such a short timeframe, causing flood-related disruptions and damage.

In response to this problem, New York City has integrated cloudburst hubs into its infrastructural development plan. Two of these hubs are planned to be built in Queens. They will utilize so-called gray infrastructure, like sewer systems and porous concrete, as well as green infrastructure, like rain gardens, to redirect rainwater off the streets and toward an underground storage tank. 

Though not yet implemented, these systems project to make New York City as a whole more climate resilient, providing its residents with a more livable future.

The Bronx is Breathing 

An initiative called The Bronx is Breathing is seeking to provide community members with a healthier future to counteract the emissions levels centralized around Hunts Point.

Hunts Point is “the number one diesel truck destination in New York State,” largely due to the Hunts Point Food Distribution Center, one of the largest in the country, which generates about 15,000 truck trips daily. This heavy truck traffic contributes significantly to air pollution, especially particulate matter (PM2.5) and diesel exhaust.

Hospitalization rates for asthma amongst children are 2.5 times higher in Hunts Point than the New York City average. Although freight vehicle emissions are not the sole cause of this exceptionally high asthma rate, they are a major contributor to the issue.

To combat it, The Bronx is Breathing is working with the Greater Hunts Point Economic Development Corporation, in partnership with Volvo and Mack Trucks, to transition the local fleet of freight trucks to EVs. The initiative seeks to build EV charging infrastructure in Hunts Point and start an initiative that supports drivers in attaining collective ownership of the new vehicles, working around both logistical and financial barriers to the plan.

Bringing Back the Oyster – Staten Island

The waters surrounding New York City were once densely populated by oysters, but with the industrialization of the area, the oyster population has been devastated. New York Harbor was once the greatest oyster habitat on the planet, with vast oyster reefs that supported both the local ecosystem and human populations for centuries. But by the early 1900s, decades of overharvesting combined with mounting pollution from sewage and industrial waste led to the collapse of oyster beds. 

In 1927, officials declared the harbor oysters unsafe to eat, and since then, oyster populations have been functionally extinct in New York waters.

When oysters thrive, they form oyster reefs, forming a natural coastal defense, which is a critically important component of the marine ecosystem and essential to dampening storm surges.  As the oyster population has decreased in the area, the toll of major storms has significantly increased. Superstorm Sandy, hitting New York in the fall of 2012, created a storm surge 14 feet tall, which claimed 44 lives along with thousands of homes and businesses. 

To bring the oysters back and prevent another similar occurrence, the Billion Oyster Project is constructing “living breakwaters,” artificial structures that serve to break incoming storm surges. Constructed off the shore of Staten Island, these structures protect on-shore human interests, shielding the coastline from the worst of storms. 

But these structures bolster local biodiversity too, over and above just oysters because they mimic the complexity of natural oyster reefs, projecting to provide habitats for a variety of oysters, shellfish, and fish. These reefs will also attract large species like rays, sharks, bald eagles, and seals, drawn to the flourishing biodiversity breathed into the artificial habitats. As a result of this ecological revitalization, the breakwaters may also develop into fishable locations for locals. 

The Greenway is the Right Way – Manhattan

As part of the broader Manhattan Waterfront Greenway initiative, a project that seeks to establish a 32.5-mile green ring around the island, Harlem is receiving major funding to revitalize the neighborhood’s public spaces and connect community members to the waterfront. 

The initiative goes beyond mere aesthetics, providing residents with practical infrastructure upgrades. Funding for the Greenway is being used to reconstruct seawalls, build new pedestrian and bike pathways, and construct a new waterfront park. 

At its core, the initiative ties together human and environmental well-being, simultaneously making public spaces more pleasant while updating its infrastructure to be more climate resilient. 

Climate Action is a Local Matter

If anything, New York’s commitment to these green initiatives demonstrates that tangible impact can be made at the local level. While your municipality may not have the same resources as New York City, your voice can make a difference, especially when you organize with other like-minded individuals.

Join our network of volunteers, and get involved in your own community today!

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The future of agriculture is a major concern around the world. The Earth is growing hotter, crucial resources are becoming scarcer, and the global population is climbing higher. In the face of these issues, producing enough food to sustain the global population while preserving critically important ecosystems is increasingly difficult to manage.

But in the last fifteen years, vertical farming has emerged as a promising alternative to current farming practices.

The concept is simple: rather than taking up even more land in a horizontal direction, crops are stacked vertically, integrated into structures like skyscrapers, warehouses, and even shipping containers. It’s a brilliant and innovative solution, but because it differs so much from traditional farming, it can be hard to fully grasp just how beneficial vertical farming could be. To demystify it a little, let’s look at three of the biggest and most successful vertical farms in operation today and unpack what concrete problems they solve.

Bustanica: Tackling Water Scarcity in Dubai

In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a desert country with limited fertile land and summer temperatures regularly clearing 100°F, agriculture is a major struggle. As a result, the UAE imports around 80% of its food supply, which not only jeopardizes its food security, but also increases the potential of food waste during transportation. But Bustanica, an impressive feat of technology, could change this.

Founded in 2022 by Emirates Flight Catering and Crop One, Bustanica is the world’s largest vertical farm, located near Al Maktoum International Airport and covering an impressive 333,000 square feet. Using a closed-loop system, the farm circulates water through the plants, so that when the heat causes the water to evaporate – turning it from liquid into vapor – it is captured, absorbed, and recycled to be used again. This process conserves water by reusing it instead of letting it escape into the air.

In Dubai’s harsh arid climate, the fresh water needed to make crops thrive through traditional agriculture is scarce. But by vertical farming, Bustanica is able to produce vast amounts of leafy greens with only a fraction of the water usage that traditional farming uses. Their facility saves over 250 million liters of water a year!

Sky Greens: Maximizing Space in Singapore

With a population of over six million crammed onto an island less than 300 square miles in area, Singapore has the third highest population density in the world. With so little land to work with, it’s a struggle to make sufficient space for humans, let alone for producing food, of which more than 90% is imported. To respond to their land issues, Singapore has expanded upwards, with towering high-rises built every year to accommodate their growing population, so why not apply that concept to agriculture too?

Sky Greens, Singapore’s pioneering vertical farm, did just that. Founded by engineer and entrepreneur Jack Ng, the company has patented a vertical farming system that features rotating tiers of growing troughs, mounted on an aluminum frame reaching up to thirty feet in the air and housed in a protected, controlled environment. The rotating mechanism, powered by hydraulics, allows their crops to receive uniform sunlight, irrigation, and nutrients as they pass through different parts of the structure.

Highly praised for its ingenuity, Sky Greens is a shining example of urban agriculture. The farm can produce one ton of leafy vegetables every other day, and its success has contributed to Singapore’s goal of achieving greater food security. The farm’s space-efficient design and sustainable farming techniques have paved the way for similar urban farms, offering hope for densely populated areas that desperately need to bring some greenery into their communities.

AeroFarms: Overcoming Pollution in Newark

In the city of Newark, New Jersey, a heavily industrialized area which deals with significant contamination from factories and toxic waste, thriving agriculture is probably the last thing one would expect to find. But AeroFarms, an award-winning vertical farming company with a focus on microgreens, has proved that vertical farms have the potential to brighten any city with greenery, regardless of how polluted it is.

Founded in 2004 and relocated to Newark in 2015, AeroFarms found its success through aeroponic farming, a method of growing plants indoors, without using soil. Instead, they use an artificial fabric, a fleece material made from recycled plastic water bottles, that supports seeds as they germinate and take root, while a mist delivers nutrients and water.

In this controlled indoor environment, agriculture is fully protected from the toxins that would destroy plants had they been grown using traditional farming.

AeroFarms currently supply over 70% of the U.S. retail market for microgreens, which are far more nutrient-dense than their mature counterparts. For example, younger leaves of baby spinach were found to have higher levels of phytonutrients than more mature leaves, meaning that they are better able to support the immune system and reduce the risk of chronic diseases.

Looking to the Future

Sometimes, the issues that face our world seem  impossible to surmount, especially when it comes to such crucial areas as food production. But vertical farms are proof that new technology and renewable energy practices can turn the tide of global agricultural issues.

If you’re as excited about this future as we are, there are ways to take action! Check out our theme for 2025: Our Power, Our Planet, a commitment to harnessing the power of renewable energy. You can read more about what changes we’re calling for, sign our renewable energy petition, or support us by joining our mailing list. The Earth needs any help we can contribute!

This article is available for republishing on your website, newsletter, magazine, newspaper, or blog. The accompanying imagery is also cleared for use. Please ensure that the author’s name and their affiliation with EARTHDAY.ORG are credited. Kindly inform us if you republish so we can acknowledge, tag, or repost your content. You may notify us via email at davies@earthday.org or fielder@earthday.org. Want more articles? Follow us on substack.

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