Ocean Legacy Foundation (OLF), a Canadian non-profit organization that develops and implements worldwide plastic pollution emergency response programs to end ocean plastic pollution, announced that they have launched EPIC Academy. EPIC Academy is a free online educational platform providing worldwide communities with essential knowledge regarding ocean plastic pollution, cleanup efforts, and solutions for creating plastic-free lands and waters. This digital OLF curriculum includes 10 unique lessons pertaining to ocean plastic pollution, the environmental impact of plastic pollution, and how different communities worldwide can take action managing plastic waste and solving the ocean plastic pollution crisis. OLF’s goal for EPIC Academy is to provide any individual, business, or organization interested in learning more about ocean plastic pollution with an easily accessible and free resource to start the learning journey; ultimately building a global community working to advance plastic pollution cleanup efforts, evidence-based policy expansion, and infrastructure development to manage plastic resources better.
EPIC Academy is available in French, Spanish, and English, and each of the 10 online lessons takes approximately 90 minutes to complete. Level 1, beginner lessons 1 – 5, is targeted towards the individual learner and includes special guidance for high school teachers (i.e., classroom guides and assignments) to help them lead their students through the lessons. Level 2, advanced lessons 6 -10, is targeted towards individuals and organizations, especially local leaders and waste management and recycling professionals, concerned about plastic pollution and want to learn how to stem the flow of plastics into the environment. Once participants have completed each lesson, they receive an EPIC Academy digital badge shared on social media. In addition, after Level 1 and completion of Level 2, they receive an EPIC Academy Certificate of Completion.
| Level 1 Courses
Introduction: The Ocean Plastics Issue 1) Introduction to Ocean Plastics 2) What are Microplastics? 3) The Journey of Plastics to the Ocean 4) Why is Plastic Pollution a Problem? 5) Creating a Circular Economy for Plastics |
Level 2 Courses
Advanced Learning: Ocean Plastics Action & Advocacy 6) Ocean Plastics 201 – A Deeper Dive into the Ocean Plastics Issue 7) Moving to Action – Encouraging Behaviour Change 8) Taking Action – Creating a Plastics Recycling System 9) Using Policy to Make a Difference 10) Advocating for Change |
“Communities around the world have specific environmental and emergency needs when managing ocean plastic pollution. EPIC Academy can provide essential knowledge regarding plastic pollution and solutions for communities to create plastic-free lands and oceans”, explains Chloé Dubois, President, and Co-founder of OLF. “During our cleanup efforts, we see single-use disposable plastics, cigarette butts, derelict fishing gear, and polystyrene littered all over the coastlines. Without intervention, global ocean plastics are expected to double by 2035. If practices remain unchanged, there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean, by weight, by 2050. OLF believes that every action towards eliminating ocean plastic pollution counts, and EPIC Academy is a step in that direction.”
OLF is recognized as an international leader in ocean plastic pollution reduction, collection, and processing. It collaborates with community organizations and businesses worldwide to reduce and process plastics collected from ocean plastic cleanups. Since OLF’s inception, they have been creating accessible platforms to assist with the restoration of critical natural ecosystems for improved human and wildlife health and assess and develop a long-term plastic collection, processing infrastructure, and policy to mitigate oceanic plastic pollution sources. In 2019, in collaboration with Nestlé Waters Global, OLF rebranded its existing integrated approach, naming it EPIC, which combines Education, Policy, Infrastructure, and Cleanup. EPIC Academy is OLF’s latest EPIC project.
Plastic debris can be found on every beach globally. Recent studies have found that marine plastic pollution has been ingested by 100 percent of marine turtles, 59 percent of whales, 36 percent of seals, and 40 percent of seabird species examined. Ocean plastic pollution causes the deaths of more than a million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals every single year. Plastics have also been found in drinking water, beer, seafood, table salt, and the human body.
EPIC Academy curriculum can be found at edu.oceanlegacy.ca.
