About Us
The Clean Currents Coalition is a project of the Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory at UC Santa Barbara. To learn more about the Coalition, download our one-pager and learn more about the teams.
The University of California Santa Barbara is a leading research university globally renowned for its impact across disciplines. UCSB’s Marine Science Institute, home of the Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory, is a recognized leader in marine science and policy, fostering the interdisciplinary research of the Institute’s professional researchers and faculty from 15 academic departments.
The Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory, based at the Marine Science Institute at the University of California, Santa Barbara, works to restore the health of the ocean by leveraging the power of science, technology, and collaboration to develop replicable and scalable solutions. The Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory is supported by the generosity of Marc and Lynne Benioff. Learn more at bosl.ucsb.edu.
The Coca-Cola Foundation is the global philanthropic arm of The Coca-Cola Company. Since its inception in 1984, The Foundation has awarded more than $1 billion in grants to support sustainable community initiatives around the world. Recycling has been a longstanding priority of The Coca-Cola Foundation which supports efforts to tackle the world’s plastic waste problem one community at a time.
Environmental Justice Statement
The Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory and members of the Clean Currents Coalition acknowledge the importance of upholding the principles of environmental justice in our efforts, and thus we work collectively and individually to support the equal access to a clean and healthy environment by everyone in our communities. Plastic pollution is an incredibly complex global issue that generates environmental injustices against people all along the supply chain: from oil extraction and refining, to waste management and disposal. By its very nature, the Clean Currents Coalition is tackling these injustices by cleaning up the environment and educating and empowering communities that experience the adverse effects of plastic pollution. We aim to work hand-in-hand with peoples and communities negatively affected by plastics to address inequities and tackle the plastics problem together, for the benefit of all.
Further Reading
Benioff Ocean Initiative 2021
Plastic waste capture in rivers: An inventory of current technologies
Benioff Ocean Initiative 2019
River plastic pollution: Considerations for addressing the leading source of marine debris
Pottinger et al. 2024
Pathways to reduce global plastic waste mismanagement and greenhouse gas emissions by 2050
Cottom et al. 2024
A local-to-global emissions inventory of macroplastic pollution
Nakayama & Osaka 2023
The flux and fate of plastic in the world’s major rivers: Modelling spatial and temporal variability
Meijer et al. 2021
More than 1000 rivers account for 80% of global riverine plastic emissions into the ocean
Law et al. 2020
The United States’ contribution of plastic waste to land and ocean
Jambeck et al. 2020
Schmaltz et al. 2020
Plastic pollution solutions: emerging technologies to prevent and collect marine plastic pollution