Crist Announces $500,000 Grant to Eckerd College's Reduce Single-use Program

Press Release

Representative Charlie Crist (D-St. Petersburg) announced a $499,638 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to Eckerd College to supplement their ongoing work to reduce ocean pollution resulting from single-use plastics. Awarded as part of the EPA's Gulf of Mexico Program, this grant will provide funding for Eckerd to create a mobile application that will help Pinellas County residents digitally track their single-use plastic consumption with the goal of keeping waste out of the Gulf of Mexico.

"The students and faculty of Eckerd College have dedicated themselves to ending the scourge of plastic pollution in our community," said Rep. Crist. "With this new federal investment, the great minds at Eckerd will soon be able to deliver the tools Pinellas residents need to cut out single-use plastics and protect our beautiful environment and marine life - right in the palms of our hands!"

"The goal of the grant is to create an app that is going to spark consumer interest in reducing plastic waste on their own," says Shannon Gowans, Ph.D., a professor of marine science and biology at Eckerd College. "The backside of this project, the consumption data we'll collect, is going to be tremendously helpful to local/state governments and NGOs to use and understand if current policies are working well such as straw bans and plastic bag bans."

As a member of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, Crist was able to secure $20 million for the Gulf of Mexico Geographic Program in Fiscal Year 2021.

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