Aware of the fatality of microplastics on marine ecosystems and the numerous disastrous consequences they could have on humans, we designed our project in the hope of reducing human impact on our planet. As citizens of a coastal city, we value our sea. As young scientists, we wish to bring a solution to preserve it.

Public's opinion

Seeking the public’s opinion on our subject was an early goal. We wanted to know if the public supported our idea and if our project responded to current concerns. Therefore, we first reached out to the closest public to us, the students, to gather some information that would illustrate the public's opinion.

A first survey was answered by 22 students, aged from 18 to 30, where 90 % of them knew the term “microplastics”. When asked whether or not they felt concerned about the current pollution of seas and oceans by microplastics, almost 72 % of them chose highly concerned. Thereby, we assumed that our work could bring a solution that is needed by most of the population. It was also reassuring to see that all of them were enthusiastic about our project when asked, as well as the fact that none of them felt zero concern about the current situation.

Pop quiz

After seeking the general public’s opinion on our project, we wanted to understand to what extent they are aware of the microplastics pollution in the Mediterranean Sea. To do so, we designed a short pop quiz with multiple answers, that we diffused on our Instagram page as well as on our events.

In total, approximately 100 participants answered the quiz. All are French residents, and most were aged between 18 and 25 years old. It was clear that in this age group, people were aware of the existence of microplastics. They were also aware of their impact on the Mediterranean Sea. However, they were not well informed about their consequences on human health nor on their origins. This created a series of questions and an increasing interest in our project among the targeted public. Thus, it was our first approach to discuss our project in detail with the public.

In total, approximately 100 participants answered the quiz. All are French residents, and most were aged between 18 and 25 years old. Again, it was clear that in this age group, people were aware of the existence of microplastics. Indeed, on average, the participants were correct at 62 %. If we look closely at the results, most of them were aware of their impact on the Mediterranean Sea, but weren’t able to guess the quantity of microplastics in the oceans. Moreover, they were not well informed about their consequences on human health nor on their origins. This created a series of questions and an increasing interest in our project among the targeted public. Thus, it was our first approach to discuss our project in detail with the public. Those answers also gave us an idea of the content we needed to emphasize more in the “prevention” aspect of our project.

In the beginning of our project, we envisioned a sea-bin that would have a filter containing microplastics-degrading bacteria. While presenting our first idea to the public, it was clear that people were very welcoming of the idea of a system that can collect microplastics. However, they were reluctant to add genetically modified bacteria in the marine ecosystem.

As a matter of fact, GMOs are a subject that is much debated in France. An Insee study published in 2017 (1) shows that in 2016, 51 % of French respondents think that GMOs represent a high risk for the environment.

Events

Events were the perfect occasion to engage with the public, whether they have a scientific background or not. As part of the Delta festival in June, we got the chance to meet and discuss with several environmental organizations or startups. For instance, we discussed with Pauline THÉVENOT from IADYS designs, a robotics startup that is committed to preserving the marine environment. They created "Jellyfishbot", a small robot capable of collecting waste on the surface of the water. She was very motivating and expressed her strong belief in our project. She even suggested lending us their waste-collecting robot, equipped with a fine net capable of trapping microplastics and programmed to do specific routes. She explained that they send plastics to laboratories that either study them or work on finding ways to degrade them. Our exchange with her was illuminating as it gave our project a potential implementation.

Furthermore, we discussed with a representative from Greenpeace, Manon FREDOUT, who was also very interested in our project. She gave us ideas and tips on how to raise awareness among the public by giving us examples of what they do at Greenpeace. All in all, the delta festival was a great chance to meet different actors who are fighting to save the environment such as Clean my Calanques and Wings of the ocean, who respectively organize beach and sea cleanups.

Early July, we had the pleasure to discuss with Pierre SOUVET, doctor and president of the organization Association Santé Environnement France (Health and Environment France), who was very impressed with our project. He and his team are studying the effects of microplastics on human health so he had many contacts. He volunteered to help us raise awareness by doing a presentation on microplastics and health or by giving us contacts for potential future events. Later in July, our team had the chance to discuss the project and its progress in front of judges with scientific background, in the French meetup at Toulouse. The judges asked plenty of enlightening questions that guided the team. For example, one of the judges mentioned that we should verify that the degradation of microplastics doesn’t acidify the medium.

It was then clear that we would have to prioritize an enzyme or a system that would perhaps be less performant but wouldn’t secrete harmful molecules while degrading microplastics. It was out of question to solve the microplastics problem while creating another problem because of waste.

Interviews

During our project, we were able to meet with professionals who guided us in our research and allowed us to improve our system while respecting this benefit/risk balance: interviewed scientists gave us feedback about the feasibility of our project and suggested alternatives. For example, Dr. Thierry TRON suggested adding a mediator to stimulate the laccase enzyme so it can degrade microplastics more efficiently. However, the addition of a mediator isn’t compatible with our implementation idea and would complexify our system. This led the team to find alternative solutions. Finally, we decided to optimize the laccase enzyme so its oxidation site could be more accessible to microplastics, without the need to add an external factor.

All in all, thanks to our social media and our events, many people got back to us to express their eagerness to see a project that aims to reduce microplastics in the Mediterranean come to life. Their feedback helped shape our project as they had insightful comments regarding the implementation and recommended other organizations or people who might help us .

References

• Insee. (2017, décembre). Les acteurs économiques et l’environnement, édition 2017.