What happens to plastic bottles in rivers? Two Milton students found out

A pair of Milton high school students are hoping a research project they conducted this year could keep plastics out of rivers, lakes and oceans around the world.

Ritvik Manicka and Suraj Subrahmanyan, both 17 years old and starting Grade 12 at Bishop Reding Catholic Secondary School next week, teamed up with environmental organizations and post-secondary institutions in Canada and the U.S. with one simple goal in mind: Figure out what happens to plastics when they’re dumped in a river.

“We were both concerned about plastics in Lake Ontario, especially around beaches, and we wanted to know more about how they got there,” said Manicka. “We heard about a similar project in Toronto, so we applied it here.”

The project saw the pair release eight specially constructed blender bottles into a trio of rivers that flow to Lake Ontario, Credit River, Grand River and Bronte Creek. Each bottle was tracked by a satellite to determine its path and how things like wind, rain and flooding affected it on its way to its final resting spot.

“What we learned is that there were stoppages at certain points in the waterways,” said Subrahmanyan. “We learned the accumulation points where debris gathered.”

That information has now been passed onto environmental groups who target certain areas for cleanup before things like plastic bottles make their way into Lake Ontario, the St. Lawrence River and even the Atlantic Ocean.

The pair got started thanks to a $3,000 grant from B.C.-based Oceanwise. Along the way, they collaborated with people from the University of Toronto, University of New Hampshire as well as a team from the UK.

Manicka said they’ve been in touch with many local groups and politicians, including from Burlington, about how to combat the issue. The next step is to write a paper and hopefully get it published.

“There’s no reason what we learned can’t be applied across Canada and around the world.”

The project has opened the eyes of the pair about a future in research. Both are investigating some of the top engineering schools, MIT, Stanford, Harvard and the U of T to continue their studies.