According to the united nations environment programme, the fashion industry is responsible for one- fifth of the 300 million tons of plastic produced globally each year

Moreover, of the approximately 100 billion items of clothing produced each year, nearly 70 billion are made of plastic and are discarded within a year of being produced and sold (elbaz, 2023). Furthermore, according to unctad around half a million tons of microfibre, which is the equivalent of 3 million barrels of oil, is now being dumped into the ocean every year. The amount and distribution of microplastic within the great lakes is still being investigated. The purpose of this project is to continue to tackle the issue of plastic pollution in milwaukee by expanding the marine debris prevention focus from single-use plastic and litter to microplastics entering the water supply from textiles. The project will leverage existing relationships and products developed by wisconsin sea grant (WSG), plastic-free MKE (pfmke) administered by milwaukee riverkeeper, milwaukee public schools (MPS) and the center for great lakes literacy (cgll) and form a new partnership with mount mary university (MMU). Specifically, the project will use existing marine debris educational kits developed by WSG including the trash trunk and plastic panic and the theatrical play me and debry. These materials will introduce the intended beneficiaries (faculty, staff, and students of both MMU and MPS one of the pfmkes frequent collaborators) to three central questions: what is marine debris, what are its impacts, and what can be done about IT. The plastic panic kit, which models primary and secondary treatment steps within a wastewater treatment plant and the difficulty of removing microplastics, will serve as the focal point for introducing fashions connection to microplastics within laundry effluent. Anticipated activities/deliverables for this initiative include drafting, piloting, reviewing and officially launching a new center for great lakes literacy (cgll) asynchronous online great lakes learning education exploration (gllee) short course that ties the fashion industry to marine debris. The project will also provide professional development workshops for college-level and k-12 teachers to assist with revisions to curricula and syllabi to incorporate marine debris prevention concepts into four MMU courses and summer fashion academy programming. Guest lectures by project staff will also serve as a means for conveying central marine debris prevention messages to students. Installation of filtering devices on MMU washing machines will enhance marine debris prevention efforts. Collaborations with subrecipients (mmus fashion department and pfmke) will provide new and continued development and promotion of microplastic curriculum through MMU courses and pfmke. For example, the annual fashion show planned by students enrolled in the FSH375 fashion show coordination course and summer high school fashion academy programming will be updated to showcase sustainable plastic-free fashion products, such as fish leather. Furthermore, students enrolled in FSH352 junior design studio and senior level FSH320 fashion lifecycle courses will utilize materials obtained via local clothing swap events to create upcycled designs. MMU students enrolled in the first year SYM 110 leadership for social justice course will create public broadcast messages concerning marine debris and its effect on the great lakes. Through these activities the project will advance the expected outcome of 1) creating new and leveraging existing marine debris prevention educational resources; 2) establishing formal marine debris educational initiatives at MMU that engage faculty, staff, and students in efforts to learn about and address marine debris and its sources within milwaukee and the fashion industry; 3) enhancing partnerships and collaborative initiatives; and 4) installing filtering devices on washing machines.