Breaking Water with Chelsea Rochman
Swim Drink Fish is highlighting members of our incredible ecosystem. This Breaking Water segment features Chelsea Rochman. Based out of the University of Toronto, Chelsea is using the power of knowledge and action to help reduce and understand plastic pollution.
Can you please introduce yourself and tell us where you work/what you do?
My name is Chelsea Rochman, and I am a co-founder of the U of T Trash Team. Our mission is to increase waste literacy to reduce plastic pollution. Most of our work is local, working to reduce pollution right here in Toronto. Our work includes community cleanups, science-based public programming, school programs with Toronto District School Board (TDSB) and solutions-based research programs. Our research includes our Fighting Floatables project, which is in collaboration with many local stakeholders working to trap trash on our waterfront and inform upstream solutions using the data from our catch. If you’ve seen a Seabin on our waterfront or a student in a U of T Trash Team t-shirt, then you’ve seen this project! I also run the Rochman Lab at the University of Toronto. In the lab, we are a group of about 20 scientists at all career stages working to better understand the sources, transport, and effects of large plastic debris and microplastics. A lot of our work is local, studying plastic pollution in our local watersheds and in Lake Ontario.
What was the inspiration that led you to co-found the U of T Trash Team?
When I was an undergraduate student, I studied abroad in Australia. As part of the program, we visited a small island with a research station. Nobody lived on this island, yet there was trash all over the beach. At the research station, there was also a turtle rehabilitation center for turtles who were sick. Many of them had ingested plastic debris and were suffering. Seeing this issue in a place that seemed mostly remote was striking, and I began to surf the internet to learn more about the issue globally. I was shocked at what I learned about the garbage patches in the middle of the ocean in 2006. This experience led me to a goal to do something about this problem. I knew I wanted to make a difference, but I felt strongly that any solution should be grounded in science. I then went on to do my Ph.D. on the issue. When I finished up, I started to dream about creating an organization that worked on solutions but also had a foot in the scientific world of research. I came to Toronto and began to brainstorm ideas with two friends and colleagues (and co-founders!), and we created the U of T Trash Team. Together, we are a team with experience in community outreach, social science and natural science. We started the team in 2017, and it’s been growing ever since.
In the last 5 years, how have you seen the U of T Trash Team grow and impact the community?
When we started the U of T Trash Team, we were a team of three working as volunteers to grow a community at U of T that did local community outreach, education and cleanup. We started with a group of about 15 students and collaborations from Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) and PortsToronto. Today, we are a team of 5 full-time staff and >80 volunteers and student interns working together on several projects in collaboration with many stakeholder groups across the city. Our work includes two annual urban cleanups per year, a fully-fledged school program for 5th graders with the TDSB, a collaborative Floatables Strategy on the waterfront with many stakeholders that includes the work of more than 15 trash traps and many summer interns diverting litter and collecting data to inform upstream solutions. In addition, we do other solutions-based research projects to inform upstream solutions and public educational programming around waste. This year we have even added the addition of art to our portfolio of work, including three student-created posters on transit shelters at Queens Quay about the issue of cigarette butts. We have grown so much in the last five years and are so grateful to our collaborators, supporters, and students for allowing this growth to happen!
What steps can Torontionas take to understand the plastic pollution issue and get involved?
Anyone is welcome to join our team or participate in our public programming. People can also take many small steps to help reduce plastic pollution. This includes understanding your waste management system, making purchases that are sustainable, participating in cleanups, using less single-use plastics, educating others about the issue, and spending time in nature to appreciate our Earth.
Do you have anything else that you'd like to share about your work, your connection to water, or how we can encourage people to join the movement for a swimmable, drinkable, fishable future?
I think it is really important that people understand the power of knowledge and action. Everyone in our community has a voice, and we can use it to motivate change. We also can shift our behaviours to those that enable a more swimmable, drinkable, and fishable future. For us, we like to act local and think global. We think a lot of the work on these issues starts at home and can be replicated and scaled up to help solve global issues by working and collaborating with others. For us, we love working in our local community and with many stakeholders and collaborators, including Swim Drink Fish!
Clif Family Foundation is proud to support hundreds of organizations that are working tirelessly to strengthen our food system, enhance equitable community health outcomes, and protect the places we play by being stewards of our environment and natural resources. Their desire is to leave the world a better place for our children.
