Algalita Marine Research Foundation (AMRF) has issued a worldwide invitation to conservation-minded high school students for their participation in the “2011 Plastics Are Forever International Youth Summit and Training Program.”

The Summit, to be held March 11-13, 2011 in Long Beach, California, is sponsored in part by grants from Disney Friends for Change Project Green and the Boeing Company Charitable Trust. The Summit is a comprehensive educational project designed to engage, mentor, and activate youth leaders across the United States and abroad in developing and launching action-oriented solutions to reduce plastic waste in their home communities.

Plastic pollution endangers countless species of marine wildlife. Birds, mammals, sea turtles, and fish become entangled in or ingest our plastic trash and new research suggests that human health may also be impacted. Plastic particles absorb toxic pollutants such as PCBs and DDT at high concentrations. These chemically-laden plastics are ingested by fish, potentially becoming more concentrated as they work up the food chain, and into the tissues of fish that we eat.

At the Summit, students will participate in an intensive program to learn more about plastic marine pollution and develop their leadership, public speaking, and communications skills, which will result in a global network of environmental youth leaders. Due to limited space, 100 students (a total of 20 to 30 student teams) and their academic advisors will be selected to attend the Summit based upon submission of project proposals outlining how they would reduce plastic pollution in their home communities. To secure participation at the Summit, students must form 2- to 4-member teams and submit their project proposals for review no later than November 30, 2010. The online training program and entry submission information is accessible at www.plasticsareforever.org.