Want to cut back on plastics? There (will be) an app for that

App will help track plastic use

Eckerd College received a nearly $500,000 federal grant to create an app that tracks single-use plastics usage in an effort to help users reduce plastics use, expanding a project that started on the campus.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - An app that tracks single-use plastics could help users cut back their usage and waste. The app will be developed thanks in part to a $500,000 EPA grant awarded to Eckerd College. 

The app will be an extension of a project that started on the campus.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded the college $499,638 in grant money to help Pinellas County residents digitally track their plastics use. They hope the tracking app will help keep trash out of Tampa Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. 

Marine science professors Shannon Gowans and Amy Siuda said the grant will help them expand their Reduce Single-Use project beyond Eckerd's campus. 

"We do have a prototype app and it allows us to document some of these pieces and get a sense of what people are doing well with, what people are struggling with," said Gowans. "Students have commented on how if they're keeping track of it, it makes them more careful."

The federal grant will help develop the prototype into a professional app for Pinellas County residents. Gowans and Siuda said the plan is to work on the app for about six months before launching in the fall.

"We need to have the funds to really do a fantastic app that people will really want to use," said Gowans.

St. Pete's residents will be the first to see the app. Gowans and Siuda said Eckerd College is partnering with the city of St. Petersburg, Keep Pinellas Beautiful, Tampa Bay Estuary Program, Tampa Bay Watch, Suncoast Rise Above Plastics Coalition (SRAP), St. Pete Youth Farm, and Arts Conservatory for Teens (ACT) to help roll out and market the app.

"The idea also would be to allow people to set up challenges with their friends and family with other organizations. And so we can we can challenge each other to do better as we move forward using this app," said Siuda. "There is a direct connection between our plastic consumption and the health of the Tampa Bay estuary. If we can encourage our community that is surrounded by water to think about reducing their plastic use, it can only have benefits for the estuarine environment that we so depend on."

Gowans and Siuda study microplastics and share why keeping tabs on plastics use is so important.

"If you can remember the movie Finding Nemo, Gill really had it right. All drains lead to the ocean. And so whatever we do, those storm drains, whatever we leave out in the streets, in parks that gets into the waterways that is ending up in the ocean and around here, that's Tampa Bay," said Gowans.

They said they hope the app motivates more people to take little steps that have a big impact on our environment. Eckerd College plans to launch the app this fall and encourage young students to participate as well.

Gowans said the city of St. Pete may also find a way for local businesses to get involved if they’re also working to cut out plastics.