The goal of the Blue Gym line of inquiry is to develop personally-relevant persuasive messaging that promotes the combination of outdoor physical activity with litter cleanup. Litter cleanup is a form of health enhancing physical activity on its own and can contribute to meeting step count and volume-based physical activity guidelines, especially for people who are insufficiently active (<150 minutes/week of moderate-intensity activity). For people who are already active or engaged in outdoor recreation, picking up one or more pieces of litter does not have to interfere with your existing activity. Removing litter from the environment has immediate impacts by creating an aesthetically pleasing environment. And it has longer term impacts by removing future microplastics and fibers from the environment, keeping them out of our food system and the air we breathe. 

This project is in partnership with Dr. Jiaying Liu at the University of California Santa Barbara,  UGA Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant, Lea King-Badyna at Keep Golden Isles Beautiful, and the Keep Georgia Beautiful Foundation. Funding for this research has been provided by the Owens Institute for Behavioral Research at UGA and the Engagement Scholarship Consortium.