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

Well, it's official.  The Grand Canyon National Park is set to ban disposable plastic water bottles.  Late last year, The New York Times published a story on National Park Director, Jon Jarvis's nixing of a proposed single-use plastic water ban after park superintendents completed an analysis of the park's waste stream and found that plastic water bottles accounted for 30% and was the single largest item littered in the Grand Canyon itself.  Suspecting meddling by Coca-Cola, who is a major donor to the National Park Service, 5 Gyres launched a campaign on Change.org to create a massive public outcry about corporate greed having undo influence over one of the seven wonders of the world. The campaign was successful, gathering over 100,000 signatures to pressure Jarvis to give autonomy back to his superintendents.  In December, Jarvis did so, but the memo that allowed supers to move forward seemed prohibitive, but on Monday, 2//6, officials at Grand Canyon announced the ban would go through. Said Marcus Eriksen, Executive Director for The 5 Gyres Institute, "This just shows how important it is to make our voices heard and that with a little organization and dedication, we can and will defend our natural wonders from the plague of plastic pollution. The whole team at 5 Gyres is delighted with the outcome and looks forward to many more victories in the future. Today is good day. Tomorrow is another battle."  

Our Executive Director is right, we ARE delighted! Thanks to everyone in the Clean Seas Coalition, The Plastic Pollution Coalition, The NRDC, The Surfrider Foundation, and countless other groups who helped us with this successful campaign.