Increasing Waste Literacy to Fight Plastic Pollution
“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”
– Dr. Seuss, The Lorax
Who we Are
The U of T Trash Team is a science-based community outreach organization made up of undergraduate and graduate students, postdocs, researchers, local volunteers and staff all working together with a common goal to increase waste literacy in our community while reducing plastic pollution in our ecosystems. We were founded in 2017 in collaboration with the Rochman Lab, part of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Toronto.
Awards
- 2025 Environmental Advocates Community Recognition Award (Spadina-Fort York)
- 2024 Greener City for All Award: Local Reuse Champions
- 2022 U of T Sustainable Action Award
- 2021 – 2022 Minister’s Award of Excellence in the category of Everyday Heroes
Our Goal
- Increase waste literacy in the community to motivate action and inform ways to reduce plastic pollution in our ecosystems.
- Work locally and build capacity globally by piloting solutions, informing prevention and cleanup, sharing resources, and inspiring independent groups to work together to scale up our collective capacity to tackle global plastic pollution.
Our Mission
- We use education, community outreach and solutions-based research to deliver evidence-based solutions to decrease solid waste and promote a circular economy, and stop the leakage of plastic into our environment.
- Empower students and early-career researchers to become future changemakers by providing leadership opportunities and experience seeing positive change on the ground.
- Connect people and increase literacy concerning material consumption and waste with fun, creative and practical actions.
- Share resources and collaborate broadly to build a network of like-minded groups working within their traditions and local frameworks to reduce plastic pollution locally while increasing impacts in other communities across the world.
Our Vision
- We envision a fun and engaged waste-literate community actively working to protect people, wildlife and the planet through the intersection of science, policy, community engagement and innovation that promote waste reduction.
- We envision like-minded groups across the world sharing experiences to act locally – turning off the tap, stopping the leakage, and removing plastic pollution through cleanup.
Our Values
We are team-oriented, collaborative, generous, fun, creative, positive, inclusive, respectful, supportive and non-judgmental. In our community, everyone is treated as an equal and with respect.
How we Work
Our local projects use research to inform policy and management, and education and community outreach to increase waste literacy, engage the public and implement effective solutions.
Solutions-based Research
Data-driven projects to help inform solutions to plastic pollution.
Education
School programs, for all ages.
Community Outreach
A range of programs including cleanups and presentations throughout the year.
Our Theory of Change
Scientific evidence informs our work, and through our three connected workstreams (solutions-based research, community outreach and education) we work locally and build collaborations globally to reduce plastic pollution. We could not do this work without the energy of our volunteers, who make it possible to achieve our goals related to policy, healthy ecosystems and community engagement.
who loves to explore the intersections of science and art.
Our Team in Action
10,000+
Citizens Engaged
1,000,000+
Microplastics Diverted
200+
Classrooms Visited
110%
Raccoon Appreciation
Meet the Team
Chelsea Rochman
Head of Operations and the Program Lead of Scientific Programming and Application
Chelsea has been researching the sources, sinks and ecological implications of plastic debris for more than a decade. In addition to research, Chelsea works to translate science beyond academia. For example, she presented her work to the United Nations General Assembly and at the US State Department. Moreover, she has served as an expert witness for both the Canadian and United States government.
Susan Debreceni
Program Lead of Volunteer Engagement and Community Programs
Susan received her BSc in Zoology with a minor in Psychology from the University of Guelph and a certificate of Ecosystem Management Technology through Fleming College. She also received a certificate in the Fundamentals of Volunteer Management through Humber College. She is passionate about connecting individuals with meaningful opportunities and spent over a decade supporting a national network of community volunteers through the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup.
Hannah De Frond
Manager, International Trash Trap Network
Hannah works with the U of T Trash Team and Ocean Conservancy to manage the International Trash Trap Network, an initiative uniting local groups around the world using trash traps to increase global cleanup efforts, engage communities, gather data to quantify our impact, and inform and motivate upstream solutions. In this role, Hannah also carries out scientific research on plastic pollution, including the prevalence of microplastics in the human food system, movement of macroplastics in river systems and public knowledge and perceptions of the issue.
Hayley McIlwraith
Education and Community Science Specialist
Hayley coordinates the educational programming to promote waste literacy in our community. She completed her BSc at the University of Toronto where she began her research journey into microplastics prevalence and impacts in the environment. She is completing her PhD with the Plymouth Marine Laboratory and University of East Anglia studying the interactions between microplastics and coastal vegetated ecosystems, including saltmarshes. Hayley is interested in translating science to the community, policymakers, and businesses as part of our collective efforts to tackle global plastic pollution.
The U of T Trash Team was co-founded by Chelsea Rochman, Susan Debreceni, and Rafaela Gutierrez. In addition to our core team, our volunteers and short-term staff fuel the U of T Trash Team with new ideas, positive energy, passion and talent. They are empowered to co-create meaningful experiences and programs on waste literacy. Our team is made up of undergraduate and graduate students, postdocs, early-career researchers, and members from outside the U of T community. Our team is predominantly young adults, gaining experience and expertise to be the next leaders in our environmental movement.