5 Gyres - Understanding Plastic Pollution Through Exploration, Education, and Action

5 Gyres is here on the East Coast, doing a few presentations at the New England Aquarium in Boston, and American University in DC. More about these later.

Meanwhile, I’m staying with my childhood pal Wendy in Takoma Park, and her adorable family. Her 4-year old Bix has been fascinated with “bad garbage” since day one. One of his first words was “Dump Truck”. Wendy and Codi used to spend hours walking through back alleys in West LA so Bix could peer into dumpsters, pointing out all the “bad garbage”. He’s for sure going into waste management someday…

Whenever I come to DC, he wants to see the latest “bad garbage” I’ve collected in the “big oceans”. He loves looking at our gyre samples, asking about each bit of plastic and asking the brilliantly childlike question: “why do the people throw garbage into the ocean?”

This morning, before I went out on a run along Sligo Creek, he asked if I’d bring him back some bad garbage. So I grabbed a bag on my way out, and kept an eye out for plastic offenders. Sligo Creek is a gorgeous, meandering stream, with trails on either side, a popular site for joggers, walkers and cyclists. Still, 4 miles in, my bag was filled to the brim.


Which got me thinking. I’ve picked up the random plastic bag or water bottle on runs, but I’ve never made it a ritual part of my jogs, usually caught up in thinking about work and life. But today, a 4 year old’s request gave a bit more meaning to my run. There are millions upon millions of runners, walkers, and hikers across the US. Many of who already pick up a few on their wanderings.

But what if we all brought a bag to collect bad garbage for Bix?