The Virginia Institute of Marine Science has partnered with JASON Learning for the “Beyond the Plastic Bottle Challenge,” an educational activity in which teams of students create a sustainable plan that reduces the debris associated with one source of microplastic pollution in their community.

“Most people are aware of the damage that plastic does to the environment,” said Meredith Evans Seeley, a Ph.D. candidate and Freeman Family Fellow in the College of William & Mary’s School of Marine Science, Gloucester Point.

“Those same people are probably aware of the dangers that water bottles and plastic straws pose to nature. But something that a lot of people don’t think about are microplastics—tiny pieces of plastic that either break down or break off from larger pieces, which then pollute filtration systems and eventually find their way into our food supply when fish and other animals accidentally eat them.”

The challenge will involve students (grades six-12) in their comm...