Want to play your part?

Science should not stop at the laboratory

 

Microplastic pollution is difficult to see, difficult to track, and even more difficult to understand. Scientists can collect samples and analyze them in the laboratory, but no single research team can monitor every stream, park, neighborhood, or storm event.

 

That is where participatory science comes in.

 

At Plastic-Free Pals, we believe the people who live, work, learn, and play in an environment should have the opportunity to help study it. Participatory science brings researchers and communities together to ask questions, collect observations, generate data, and learn from one another

 

The goal is not simply to have more people doing science.

 

    The goal is to do better science because more people are involved.

 

Why does participatory science matter?
More eyes on the environment.

 

Researchers can only be in so many places at once. Community volunteers and students can help extend monitoring across larger areas and longer periods of time.

 

Local knowledge matters.

 

People who spend time in a watershed often notice changes that may not appear in a single sampling event. Their observations can help researchers ask better questions.

 

Long-term monitoring becomes possible.

 

Microplastic pollution can change with rainfall, season, water flow, land use, and human activity. Repeated observations can reveal patterns that one-time studies cannot.

 

Science becomes accessible.

 

Participatory science gives students, educators, and community members the opportunity to experience how environmental research actually works: asking questions, collecting evidence, analyzing results, and confronting uncertainty.

 

Communities become partners in research.

 

Rather than treating communities as subjects of research, participatory science creates opportunities for communities to help shape the questions being asked and how the results are used.

 

Launching Citizen Science Crowdfunding (till 11/11/26)

Help Us See the Plastic We Can't See

 

Microplastics are everywhere, but monitoring them remains challenging. We want to change that through long-term environmental monitoring, community participation, and accessible scientific tools.

 

1) Building a long-term monitoring network

With community partners, we aim to monitor the Schuylkill River weekly, sampling upstream and downstream of the dam to track how microplastic pollution changes with rainfall, seasons, and water flow.

 

2) We also hope to expand monitoring to nearby creeks, wetlands, stormwater pathways, soils, sediments, and areas surrounding synthetic turf at FDR Park.

 

3) Investigating the products we use

From bottled water and beverages to selected food products, we want to investigate where microplastics may be hiding. And you'll help choose which products and questions we explore.

 

You choose the samples. Our scientists find a way to investigate it. Making monitoring accessible to everyone! 

 

We’re advancing tools that can help detect microplastics beyond specialized laboratories, making research more accessible to educators, community groups, and researchers.

 

We don't just want to tell communities that microplastics are everywhere. We want to give them the tools to investigate for themselves.

 

Join our Kickstarter today! (Linky coming soon - Estimated 10/10/2026)

So Join us and become a Plastic Free Pal to play your part!