Plastic pollution is not an issue to be left only to policymakers and scientific discovery should not be left only to PhDs. We are all key stakeholders in the health and future of our communities.

Today, scientists and policymakers everywhere understand that ocean plastic pollution is a symptom of how plastic moves through our communities, from extracting fossil fuels to make plastics, to the way we design, transport, recover, and dispose of our products and packaging. This is the research frontier of science, the United Nations, governments and corporations, but it’s missing the reach of the masses to frame and direct solutions that serve everyone.

Globally, 5 Gyres has been tracking the issue of plastic pollution in our oceans and communities for over 10 years. We have worked alongside our ambassador network around the world to document plastic firsthand, and leverage the data to create real change. We have seen how small, local engagement can scale to drive statewide and even national advancements, as in the case of the plastic bag bans in California and New York, and the National Microbeads Free Water Act of 2015. We have seen an explosion of global interest, messaging, solutions, and data emerge on plastic pollution. But we need to get closer to the problem.

TrashBlitz is about providing a platform for all of us to unite around taking charge of waste in our communities by gathering relevant data right now to find the right solutions for a better tomorrow. Together with our partners, we will create the first open source dataset to be used in validating everyone’s efforts for a planet free of plastic pollution.