Education and Outreach
Experiential Environmental Education
Clean Ocean Access uses experiential environmental education to foster environmentally
responsible behaviors in students and adults on Aquidneck Island and beyond. Since 2013, Clean Ocean Access has worked with Aquidneck Island public and private schools and summer camps to educate the next generation about environmental issues. We have developed three topics for our experiential environmental education programs which include: Watershed Pollution, Ocean Pollution and Conservation. Within those three topics are lessons and hands-on activities that will educate students on the watershed, marine debris, plastic pollution, Marina Trash Skimmer technology, composting, and environmental stewardship.
Through our education programs students have the opportunity to get an inside look into how a non-profit organization functions while developing a better understanding of their own coastal environment by getting outside! All of these education events and programs differ in content, but every lesson works to foster environmentally friendly behaviors within the students and their friends and families.
Community Outreach
Clean Ocean Access interacts with both the local and visiting community year-round via
community outreach. One way that we promote our mission is by tabling at local events and sharing how people can get involved either by volunteering, attending or donating to our organization. Additionally, we host public informational events like our monthly meetings and Marina Trash Skimmer tours to provide awareness about local environmental issues and how people can help to improve the environment through collective behavior change. Beginning in 2018, Clean Ocean Access achieved the greatest amount of community outreach by being the sustainability partner at events, such as the Broadway Street Fair, Norman Bird Sanctuary Harvest Fair and 2018 Volvo Ocean Race. At these events we engage with event goers about the organization and how to properly compost and recycle, with the hope that the brief interaction will leave them thinking about their own behaviors in their daily life.
Frequently Asked Questions
Statistics
Throughout 2021, COA had the privilege of engaging our community through the following:
95 35 3,741
educational events outreach events contact hours
2013-2021 Summary of Environmental Education and Outreach: