Ocean Legacy Foundation Launches EPIC Academy

Ocean Legacy Foundation (OLF) have launched EPIC Academy. EPIC Academy is a free online educational platform providing worldwide communities with essential knowledge regarding ocean plastic pollution, cleanup efforts, and solutions for creating plastic-free lands and waters. This digital OLF curriculum includes 10 unique lessons pertaining to ocean plastic pollution, the environmental impact of plastic pollution, and how different communities across the globe can take action managing plastic waste and solving the ocean plastic pollution crisis. OLF’s goal for EPIC Academy is to provide any individual, business or organization interested in learning more about ocean plastic pollution with an easily accessible and free resource to start the learning journey; ultimately building a global community working to advance plastic pollution cleanup efforts, evidence-based policy expansion and infrastructure development to better manage plastic resources.

EPIC Academy is available in French, Spanish, and English and each of the 10 online lessons takes approximately 90 minutes to complete. Level 1, beginner lessons 1 – 5, is targeted towards the individual learner and includes special guidance for high school teachers (i.e., classroom guides and assignments) to help them lead their students through the lessons. Level 2, advanced lessons 6 -10, is targeted towards individuals and organizations, especially local leaders and waste management and recycling professionals, who are concerned about plastic pollution and want to learn how to take action to stem the flow of plastics into the environment. Once participants have completed each lesson, they receive an EPIC Academy digital badge that can be shared on social media. At the completion of Level 1 and completion of Level 2 they receive an EPIC Academy Certificate of Completion.

OLF is recognized as an international leader in ocean plastic pollution reduction, collection and processing and continues to collaborate with community organizations and businesses around the world to reduce and process plastics collected from ocean plastic cleanups. Since OLF’s inception, they have been creating accessible platforms to assist with the restoration of critical natural ecosystems for improved human and wildlife health, as well as assess and develop the long-term plastic collection, processing infrastructure and policy to mitigate oceanic plastic pollution sources. In 2019, in collaboration with Nestlé Waters Global, OLF rebranded its existing integrated approach, naming it EPIC, which combines Education, Policy, Infrastructure and Cleanup. EPIC Academy is OLF’s latest EPIC project.