A swirl of vibrant blue pieces of plastic floated at the top of a large bucket of water, catching the attention of researcher and Jones junior, Sarah Kaplan. Moving closer, she noticed something unusual: among the plastic floated small jellyfish which blended seamlessly into their surroundings. Shocked, Kaplan became inspired to make a difference in the microplastics crisis, leading to the creation of her impactful nonprofit Seas The Future.
While participating in student research on the Atlantic Ocean, Kaplan experienced many fateful moments, ultimately encouraging her drive for helping the environment.
“I went to the Sea Education Association store room, the group I went on the ship with, and their store room just had vials and vials of these plastics that students had collected since the 1980s,” said Kaplan. “It was just really shocking to see that amount of plastic.”
After researching further, Kaplan discovered the true magnitude of plastic production.
“I found that since 1950, plastic production has increased 230 fold, producing 450 million tons of plastic every year,” said Kaplan. “That outweighs all 8 billion humans on Earth.”
This information spurred Kaplan to create Seas The Future, a youth-led nonprofit organization, in the fall of 2025. However, she needed help to make this vision a reality.
“Sarah is one of my close friends. We had been coming back from a volunteer experience this summer, and she pitched it to me, and I was like ‘wow, this is super cool’,” said Mary McGovern ‘27. “I really thought this had the potential to go really far.”
Once in collaboration, the two began developing the structure and purpose of the organization.
“The organization is focused on empowering high school students to address the microplastics crisis by both presenting to their communities and also fundraising for research through the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution,” said Kaplan. “It’s mainly students giving presentations. So far, we’ve given one to Science National Honor Society, and then also last week, I went back to my elementary school and presented to fifth and sixth graders.”
McGovern’s role specifically became crafting the policy side of the organization.
“For our website, I researched a lot of the different petitions you could sign, or things you can do on a more local level, even if you’re not able to contribute financially,” said McGovern.
A major factor the two took into account was the scalability of their project.
“We started with going to coffee shops and trying to figure out what recycled plastic products we wanted to order,” said Kaplan “A lot of the planning phase was getting the presentation up and running, and working with companies in the US and England to try and develop these recycled ocean plastic products.”
Another factor was the recycled plastic products which the two wanted to give to their donors.
“We definitely wanted to make sure our products would be stuff you can actually use, like a little dolphin keychain,” said McGovern. “It’s not even just, ‘give a donation because you want to and not receive anything in return,’ but it’s nice to receive something in return, I think. And it just shows kind of how we can scale up.”
Beyond usage, the recyclability of the products is highly important as it helps in eliminating plastic waste.
“As far as our sustainability mindset, it’s just trying to figure out where we can reuse and rethink. One of the best ways we can use plastics is extending their lifespan when we have them,” said Kaplan. “So using them, recycling them, and trying to prevent the further production of them is something that we have to do.”
Outside of the plastic products, a main goal through the organization and presentations specifically is to build understanding around microplastics and their effects.
“I think the biggest thing with microplastics that we have to understand is that it’s not like plastic bottles, we can’t just go to the beach and pick them up,” said Kaplan. “There’s not really any technology that we have to filter them from our waterways. I really want people to know that we have to stop them at our source.”
Explaining the underlying effects of microplastics to individuals themselves is another goal.
“Every year, people consume 39,000 to 52,000 pieces of plastic. The majority of that doesn’t come from giant plastic water bottles, it comes from microplastics,” said Kaplan. “And the danger is that there’s no health research yet on how they’re impacting us…as a preventative measure, everyone should know that this is happening.”
Beyond its broad importance, the organization remains significant to the Jones community.
“We have very strong lobbying forces, and government forces that are protecting plastic industries,” said Kaplan. “Younger people are the way that we can really get involved and make this change before it’s too late, and try and push some of these bigger lobbying agencies.”
In the future, the two hope to expand the organization to greater levels to boost microplastic awareness and help aid the crisis.
“Our main goal is global expansion, just trying to start with my connected group right now, and then branch out from there,” said Kaplan “The ultimate end goal is to have reached a bunch of people, as many people as we can, to raise as much funds as we can for the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.”
They urge people to make conscious choices and make small changes to cause big impact.
“We have a website where anyone can get involved, or help, even if they sign a petition a day, anyone can have a huge impact, or however much of an impact they want to have from anywhere at any time,” said McGovern. “Bringing reusable bags from home instead of buying plastic ones at the store, it starts with the little habits.”
Ultimately, the founders of Seas The Future encourage being proactive and speaking up even when it is difficult, boosting the message of their organization.
“If you see a problem, just try and think of one way that you can solve it and just try and work on that,” said Kaplan. “Don’t be afraid to ask for help and try and make a change where you can.”
