Nantucket Litter Derby Teams Up With WPI Students To Tackle Island's Trash Problem

JohnCarl McGrady •

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Participants in the 2025 Nantucket Litter Derby at the Madaket landfill. Photo courtesy of Litter Derby organizers.

Every year, students from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) come to Nantucket to study some of the island’s most intractable problems and attempt to find solutions. This year, one of those problems is litter.

In an effort to help Nantucket figure out how to effectively deter and reduce litter, WPI students have teamed up with the Nantucket Litter Derby for a study that will result in a set of actionable recommendations to deter littering that address changes in policies, infrastructure, as well as community outreach and engagement.

“I think the impacts could be hugely beneficial in looking at all of our data and seeing what's already being done by the town, by different stakeholders,” Nantucket Litter Derby founder Leah Mojer said. “These are problems that have serious implications.”

To develop their recommendations, WPI students will be interviewing the world’s top experts and local islanders. They will also be conducting surveys on-island.

For her part, Mojer already has some ideas: awareness campaigns, ensuring drivers cover their truck beds, and more collaboration between the local government and Nantucket’s nonprofits.

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Litter Derby organizer Leah Mojer at Cisco Brewers announcing the team winners of the 6th annual event. Photo by Charity Grace Mofsen

“[We need to be] putting resources and time and energy into really effectively getting this message across that people can't just come here and trash this place and leave,” Mojer said. “We have to expect more from our visitors, and we have to expect more from our businesses, and that has to be clearly stated as a unified front.”

Last year, the Nantucket Litter Derby collected over 30,000 pounds of trash on Nantucket. Over 2,000 pounds of that were hazardous materials.

“Just the fact that we collected that hazardous material was worth all the effort from the Derby this year,” Mojer said.

Given Nantucket’s sole-source aquifer, litter can have a particularly stark effect on the island.

“These hazardous materials and illegal dumping are really going to have an impact as our community continues to grow,” Mojer said.

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