Scouting for Clean Waterways

For the most part, plastic is good. It’s the human-made material in may useful things, such as water bottles, sports safety gear and food packaging.

However, about 12 billion pounds of plastic are dumped into oceans each year. Millions more are dumped into rivers, lakes, streams, swamps and other waterways.

This is not good.

Some types of plastic take hundreds of years to break down. In the meantime, they pollute our water and harm wildlife. More than 1 million animals are killed each year due to plastic marine debris. Waterway and marine debris also pollute soil, and animals ingest the pollution.

As a Scout, you can do something to help.

Scouting for Clean Waterways is a nationwide effort that begins on Earth Day (April 22) 2025. It is designed to help Scouts not only use less plastic, but also properly dispose of trash, recycle and actively participate in cleaning waterways in local communities. Any Scout of any age can participate.

Be on the lookout for more details on Scouting for Clean Waterways, including the patch you can earn!

HERE’S HOW SCOUTING FOR CLEAN WATERWAYS WORKS:

• Start now by reducing your personal use of disposable plastics. Use a refillable water bottle instead of buying one-time-use water bottles.

• Properly stow and dispose of trash.

• Talk with your adult or youth leader about doing a cleanup project in your area.

• Beginning on Earth Day 2025, participate in a cleanup project at a river, canal, lake, stream, swamp, beach or other waterway in your community.

• Thanks to an official partnership with CleanHub, your impact on improving waterways will be doubled. CleanHub will match Scout cleanups pound for pound of plastic debris.

• Post about your Scouting for Clean Waterways project on social media. Use #ScoutingCleanWaterways

• Log the details of your cleanup efforts on the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration’s “Debris Tracker” app. Download the app here: go.scoutlife.org/trackdebris