Reader Submitted: BabyLegs: a DIY Research Trawl That Allows Citizens to Monitor Ocean Plastic

edited 1:31AM in creations

Made out of baby tights, soda pop bottles, and other inexpensive and easy-to-find materials, BabyLegs is a trawl that can be used to monitor floating microplastics from the surface of the water in your local ocean, lake, river, stream, or canal.

Does your water have plastics? How many? What kind? Where are they coming from? BabyLegs can help you find out.

The Kit

The kit is designed to be easy to assemble and cost as little as possible so that anyone can use it. It makes for a great classroom project, as well as an accessible tool for measuring local microplastic pollution.

Use it outside

BabyLegs can be used in many different places. Drag it from a boat, hang it from a bridge or use it by hand from a dock to collect a sample for analysis.

Images: assembly illustration by Paulina Kowalska. Photos by Dr. Max Liboiron and Public Lab.


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View the full project here

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