Litter survey results Dec and Nov 2015 American River in the region of Rancho Crodova

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Litter surveillance and disposal
summaryreportDecember/November2015.
hammerdirt association - Rancho Cordova - info@hammerdirt.ch - www.plagespropres.ch

2. Cordova Creek activity report - December 2015 - gary@hammerdirt.ch - www.plagespropres.ch
About hammerdirt About this project
Hammerdirt is a nonprofit associ-
ation with no political or religious
affiliations. We are driven by our
desire to create an environment
that leverages technology and citi-
zen participation to solve problems
now and in the future.
We prefer action to words and our
projects reflect this philosophy.
Collaborative by nature we actively
seek feedback from all interested
parties and we integrate that feed
back into our operations.
The project is based on a statistical
approach and requires data collection
regularly and systematically. In order
to establish a trend, the data collected
must have temporal, quantitative and
geographical parameters.
Once collected, the data can be used
to evaluate the effectivenes of litter
mitigation strategies. The data is
compared over time, to demonstrate
the evolution of the quantity and type
of litter found at precise locations.
We use an international standard
developed by the EU and UNEP for
categorizing the litter found during a
litter-survey . Our data is compatible
with the Marine Litter Watch pro-
gram.
Our method is simple :
1.Separate material into categories
2.Count each item in each category
3.Record quantities
4.Photograph
5.Dispose of material
We have refined our methods and we
use common technologies to mini-
mize administrative overhead. Data
entry is completed on site and is im-
mediately exploitable.
The method

3. Cordova Creek activity report - December 2015 - gary@hammerdirt.ch - www.plagespropres.ch
Data
Follow usSupport
The data collected is availble
for download and is free to use
for all non-comercial use, follow
the “Kobo Toolbox” link. We use
the “Marine Litter Watch” codes
for the data, you can create your
own key or contact us and we
will send you the code-key (let
us know what you are using the
data for).
Our weekly schedule and abbreviated
survey results are posted on Blogger,
facebook and Twitter. Interested in-
dividuals should follow us on one of
these platforms.
This project is unfunded, Gary
Hare provides all the resources
for collecting data in California,
the adminstration and data base
is managed by hammerdirt.
We are always looking for seri-
ous, dedicated people that would
like to fund, initiate or partici-
pate in projects of this type. For
more information, visit:
www.hammerdirt.ch

4. Cordova Creek activity report - December 2015 - gary@hammerdirt.ch - www.plagespropres.ch
Consolidated survey results
For the period between
November 24 and De-
cember 13, 817 pieces
of litter representing
75 categories were re-
moved from the two lo-
cations. Plastic as a per-
centage of total ranged
from 68.1% to 84.8%.
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
50,0%
60,0%
70,0%
80,0%
90,0%
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
2015-11-24
2015-11-28
2015-11-29
2015-12-02
2015-12-04
2015-12-08
2015-12-13
Plasticasa%oftotal
Piecesoflittercollected
Day of collection
Daily totals and plastic as % of total
Daily total Plastic as a % of total
0,0% 10,0% 20,0% 30,0% 40,0% 50,0% 60,0%
All else
Crisps packets/sweets wrappers
Polystyrene pieces 1 cm > < 50 cm
Plastic pieces 1 > < 50 cm
Shopping Bags incl. pieces
Drink bottles >0.5l
Fishing line/monofilament (angling)
Drink bottles <=0.5l
Plastic caps/lids unidentified
Plastic caps/lids drinks
Straws and stirrers
Plastic bags collective role; what remains from…
Mostcommon types of litter found as % of total
Candy wrappers, foam,
small bits of plastic
and shopping bags ac-
count for 30.8% of the
litter found at the two
locations.
Location GPS # of Samples
Cumulative
total
Pieces m² % of plastic
Cordova creek 1
38.60187344
-121.3171967 0 4
3 313 2.24 76,7%
Cordova creek 2
38.6020397
-121.31717802
4 504 1,77 76,9%

5. Cordova Creek activity report - December 2015 - gary@hammerdirt.ch - www.plagespropres.ch
Summary results cordova creek I
313 pieces of litter rep-
resenting 59 categories
were collected in three
surveys. Candy wrap-
pers, foam, drink bottles
and plastic lids make up
33% of the items found
at location 1.
Download
data
90
95
100
105
110
115
2015-11-29 2015-11-24 2015-12-04
Piecesoflittercollected
Date of collection
Litter collected per day Cordova Creek 1
10%
5%
5%
5%
4%
4%
67%
COMPOSITION OF LITTER CORDOVA CREEK 1
Crisps packets/sweets wrappers
Polystyrene pieces 1 cm > < 50 cm
Polystyrene pieces > 50 cm
Plastic caps/lids unidentified
Drink bottles >0.5l
Plastic caps/lids drinks
All else

6. Cordova Creek activity report - December 2015 - gary@hammerdirt.ch - www.plagespropres.ch
Summary results cordova creek II
Download
data
16%
11%
6%
5%
5%
3%
54%
COMPOSITION OF LITTER CORDOVA CREEK 2
Crisps packets/sweets wrappers
Polystyrene pieces 1 cm > < 50 cm
Shopping Bags incl. pieces
Fishing line/monofilament (angling)
Plastic pieces 1 > < 50 cm
Drink bottles >0.5l
All else
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
2015-11-28 2015-12-02 2015-12-08 2015-12-13
Piecesoflittercollected
Date of collection
Litter collected per day Cordova Creek 2
540 pieces of litter rep-
resenting 66 categories
were collected in four
surveys. Candy wrap-
pers, foam, plasticbags
and fishing line make up
38% of the items found
at location 2.

7. Cordova Creek activity report - December 2015 - gary@hammerdirt.ch - www.plagespropres.ch
Gary Hare
Gary is an artist, licensed gen-
eral contractor, and woodwork-
er with 25 years experience in
multiple trades in the construc-
tion industry. He has a lifelong
appreciation for nature and the
outdoor/actual world. Gary is
the project manager for Califor-
nia hammerdirt operations.
hammerdirt, California
Links
Suggested Reading
Catlin-Groves, C. (2012). The Citizen Science Landscape: From Volunteers to
Citizen. International Journal of Zoology.
Hoellein, T., Westhoven, M., & Lyandres, O. (2014). Abundance and environ-
mental drivers of anthropogenic litter on 5 Lake Michigan beaches: A study
facilitated by citizen science data collection. Journal of Great Lakes Research
Dickinson1, J., Shirk1, J., Bonter, D., Bonney, R., Crain, R. L., & Martin, J.
(2012). The current state of citizen science as a tool. The Ecological Society
of America.
National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration - Marine Debris
Surfrider - Ocean Iniative
American chemical society - Citizen Science
The Citizen, science and the Environment - hammerdirt LinkedIn Pulse
The business sense of funding grassroots environmental groups