From Blue-Gray to Blue-Green:

Facilitating the Transition to Non-Plastic, Natural Material Use Within the Coastal Zone Economy

About the Project

The S.C. Sea Grant Consortium, in collaboration with the University of South Carolina, Clemson University, University of Dayton, Robinson Design Engineers, and Johnson C. Smith University, has launched the Blue Gray to Blue Green initiative.

The project aims to reduce coastal plastic debris by promoting the use of and researching natural materials that can replace plastic use in the growing sectors of coastal aquaculture, restoration, and water quality protection.

Project Plan

An Advisory Council has been established to include leaders within each of the three sectors and local community leaders. Council members are providing project guidance and direction to ensure project findings apply to and are usable by the broader coastal community. The Council is facilitated and coordinated by the S.C. Sea Grant Consortium.

The Advisory Council has representatives from the following entities: ACE Basin National Estuarine Research Reserve, Charleston County, Clemson University, Coastal Conservation League, Gullah Geechee Chamber of Commerce, Gullah Preservation Society, North Inlet Winyah Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, S.C. Department of Natural Resources, S.C. Hemp Association, The Nature Conservancy, and the Town of Pawleys Island.

Coastal practitioners and stakeholders consider the physical characteristics of a material when selecting what material to use. To better understand how alternative (non-plastic) materials can withstand the coastal environment, materials will be tested in tanks, in a lab, and in the field.

• A suite of alternative materials will be tested in tanks at the Baruch Marine Field Laboratory. Students, faculty, and staff from Johnson C. Smith University will assist in these experiments as well.
• The University of Dayton’s Behavior of Advanced Material and Structures Laboratory will conduct further tests on alternative materials in a lab; they will control various environmental exposures including temperature, humidity, UV light, salinity, and surface abrasion. These experiments will help us understand the underlying conditions contributing to material failure.
• Field tests at the Baruch Marine Field Laboratory will occur on a narrower set of alternative materials based on which materials were successful in the lab and tank experiments.

In addition to the physical characteristics of a material, coastal practitioners and stakeholders often consider cost when selecting which materials to use. To assess this, Clemson University will conduct economic analyses on select materials to evaluate how feasible it would be for coastal sectors to adopt alternative materials.

All project results will be incorporated into resources and publications that highlight local knowledge from Gullah Geechee communities, expected suitable and unsuitable environments for natural material alternatives, and cost estimates of transitioning to new materials.

Funding and Partners

Funding award: National Sea Grant Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) Marine Debris Challenge Competition.

Start date: April 1, 2023.

Project partners:

Bill Strosnider, Ph.D., Bruce W. Pfirrmann, Mariah Livernois, Ph.d., Baruch Marine Field Laboratory, University of South Carolina.

Brooke Saari, Amanda Guthrie, Ph.D., Matt Gorstein, Susan Lovelace, Ph.D., S.C. Sea Grant Consortium.

Michael Carbajales-Dale, Ph.D., Sarah White, Ph.D., Clemson University.

Robert Lowe, Ph.D., Scott Schneider, University of Dayton.

Mark Dugo, Ph.D, Johnson C. Smith University.

Joshua Robinson, Robinson Design Engineers.

Contact

For more information, reach out to Brooke Saari, Coastal Environmental Quality and Extension Services Specialist at the Consortium, or Principal Investigator Bill Strosnider, Ph.D., at USC.