There’s a lot of talk about plastic pollution in our oceans and by plastic bags, but what is anyone doing about it?

The 5 Gyres Institute is launching a Last Straw Plastic Pollution Solutions Outreach Tour, conducting beach & watershed cleanups all over the East Coast from Boston to Charleston. The 1400 mile bike tour is hitting up major cities to discuss problems (and solutions!) for the plastic plague.

The 5 Gyres tour is coming to Philly on October 15 – and you won’t be bummed out by their visit. United by Blue is co-hosting the event and speaking about their Bartram’s Garden cleanups throughout the year. In 2012 alone, United By Blue collected over 2,960 plastic bottle form the Schuykill River and much more debris. At least 70% of their pickups is plastic waste, which helps our area tremendously. Together, the event will be complete with presentations on 5 Gyres’ plastic pollution studies on the oceans. 5 Gyres will explain how they’re trying to inspire positive change through education, source reductions, common sense policy & sustainable industry. We’ll also be there to discuss our Plastic Bag Reduction campaign with the Plastic Bag Monster! This FREE presentation is going to be on Monday, October 15th from 6-8 PM at the Underground Arts at the Wolf Building, 1200 Callowhill Street (12th & Callowhill). To register or learn more, email cleanup@unitedbyblue.com or call 215-642-0693.

You can also participate in the Bike Outreach Tour and win some awesome stuff from the sponsors, starting tomorrow. Here’s the 5 steps to enter:

1. Print out this poster or make a handmade sign.
2. Spend at least 5 minutes cleaning up a beach, gutter, riverbed or local water source/supply
3. Snap a pic with the “I am the Sea Change” sign and garbage you collected
4. Like & tag #5Gyres on Facebook & encourage your friends to do the same by sharing the contest link
5. Send an email to Betheseachange@5gyres.org with the subject line “5 for 5 Gyres”.

To date, the 5 Gyres has sailed over 30,000 nautical miles to research plastic pollution. They’ve also lead successful campaigns to mitigate environmental effects of plastic bags & water bottles in all major West Coast cities & the Grand Canyon. With sponsors like Teva, Patagonia, Klean Kanteen & many more, they’re not messing around.

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Julie Hancher is Editor-in-Chief of Green Philly, sharing her expertise of all things sustainable in the city of brotherly love. She enjoys long walks in the park with local beer and greening her travels, cooking & cat, Sir Floofus Drake. View all posts by Julie Hancher