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The Escaped Trash Assessment Protocol (ETAP)
Citation:
The Escaped Trash Assessment Protocol (ETAP).
Impact/Purpose:
The protocol is designed to be applied to a broad range of site types— e.g., parks, streets, parking lots, etc. — and environmental conditions — e.g., various hydrological and climatic regimes. This highly adaptable method for trash monitoring will provide practitioners and citizen scientists with a comprehensive and rigorous method for quantifying trash loadings. The tool can also be used to assess item age and level of fouling and analyze and compare across specific material types and categories of trash collected. This information can eventually be used to guide upstream source reduction decisions.
Description:
The Escaped Trash Assessment Protocol (ETAP), developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Trash Free Waters program, is a quantitative survey tool which provides a standard method for collecting and assessing litter data.
URLs/Downloads:
EPA's Escaped Trash Assessment ProtocolEscaped Trash Assessment Protocol Reference Manual (PDF, NA pp, 2627 KB, about PDF)