Abundance and types of small plastics on Chilean beaches, registered by the Científicos de la Basura citizen science program

Data set generated by means of citizen science, which contains the abundances of the main types of small plastic litter (fragments or pellets) registered on sandy beaches along the Chilean coast in 2011. Specifically, the data set contains the numbers of small plastic items (1-10 mm) counted within 50cm x 50cm sampling quadrats positioned along the high tide line. Cigarette butts were also recorded whenever present. The data set also contains the sampling dates, the names and coordinates of the surveyed beaches, the nearest coastal city or town to each beach, the name of the school or the type of volunteers group that conducted each sampling, the total sum of small plastic items (fragments+pellets) within each sampling quadrat, and the mean abundance per square meter.