This past summer, local environmental groups, municipalities, and the Long Island Sound Study asked LI Sound residents to Break the single use plastic habit via a 7-week social media campaign. Posts and tweets highlighted the plastic problem, the progress that's been made thanks to the work of local communities, and the work that still needs to be done.

LISS' plea to its followers at the time: "Please bring reusable bags or bottles to the beach this summer. Use less plastic. Help protect the fish, seabirds, mammals, and other wildlife that call the Sound home, and that rely on us to keep the Sound trash free." Credit: Amy Mandelbaum, NYSG/LISS.

Contact: 

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

Stony Brook, NY, November 14, 2019 - Long Island Sound Study’s third #DontTrashLISound social media campaign continued to be a success in helping to raise understanding of the dangers of marine debris in Long Island Sound to wildlife. 

The social media posts running from early August to mid-September were viewed more than 135,000 times on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, engaging a wide audience with comments, shares and likes.

This summer’s campaign also included beach cleanups and information events in Connecticut and New York, and the distribution of thousands of “Protect Our Wildlife” stickers that also contained a message to “Break the Single-Use Plastic Habit.” 

The campaign was organized by the New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission with support from the Connecticut and New York Sea Grant Programs, Mystic Aquarium, The Nature Conservancy-CT, SoundWaters, and the Long Island Sound Citizens Advisory Committee.

You can check out posts from the seven-week campaign using #DontTrashLISound on Twitter and Facebook. And there's more information on the campaign at www.DontTrashLISound.net.

—Sound Bytes, News from the Long Island Sound Study


More Info: Long Island Sound Study

Long Island Sound is one of the 28 nationally-designated estuaries under the 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, conducted under the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) National Estuary Program (NEP), is a cooperative effort between the EPA and the states of Connecticut and New York to restore and protect the Sound and its ecosystems.

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 Web site. 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.

For daily updates and tips on how you can help protect and restore Long Island Sound, please join LISS on Facebook, Twitter or, sign up for their RSS feeds.


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 33 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, SUNY 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 Kingston in the Hudson Valley.

For updates on Sea Grant activities: www.nyseagrant.org has RSS, Facebook, Twitter, 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. Our program also produces an occasional e-newsletter,"NOAA Sea Grant's Social Media Review," via its blog, www.nyseagrant.org/blog.