Plastic Detectives Are Watching Us: Citizen Science Towards Alternative Single-Use-Plastic-Related Behaviour

The alarming increase in single-use plastic (SUP) consumption, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and its detrimental effects on environmental and public health, underscores the urgent need for the public to adopt more environmentally responsible behaviours. This study presents citizen science (CS) initiatives undertaken two years after the onset of the pandemic as an effective means to engage and mobilise citizens in reducing plastic consumption. It combines an inventory of CS actions targeting SUP with a self-designed and implemented CS project. Unlike the predominantly technical focus of existing initiatives, our ‘Plastic Detective’ project was designed to collect behavioural data related to SUP use. The majority of completed and ongoing CS projects addressing SUPs focused on beach clean-ups, which primarily involved reporting the distribution and composition of plastic litter. However, no initiatives were found to address consumer behaviour. CS activities were predominantly initiated in a bottom-up manner, largely coordinated by non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and were mostly confined to the Northern Hemisphere. In our project, volunteers were asked to observe, sample and categorise behaviours in their surroundings using a model that distinguished between SUP use and the adoption of alternative materials or practices. Additionally, participants’ perceptions of SUP were assessed through pre- and post-surveys. Our findings reveal that young people, in particular, are eager to participate in CS initiatives. Regardless of age, gender or location, all respondents—despite acknowledging the need to reduce SUP consumption—identified producers as the key group responsible for addressing plastic pollution. We conclude that CS can act as an effective knowledge broker between research and non-research communities, fostering behavioural change towards more sustainable practices. Moreover, CS initiatives can play a vital role in popularising scientific findings and influencing policy-making processes to promote environmentally friendly alternatives to SUPs.