- The 5 Gyres Institute has launched its annual initiative for tracking the amount of trash in National Parks.
- Visitors to the national parks can assist by recording any trash they find in any U.S. federal park or land during October.
- Scientists use the data collected by crowdsourcing to formulate scientific recommendations about how to reduce waste.
On April 22, let’s all celebrate Earth Day. It’s impossible to do our part in keeping this planet clean without honoring it. To do this, the 5 Gyres Institute will launch its fourth annual Plastic-Free Parks TrashBlitz.
The mission of the community science initiative is to track pollution in U.S. National Parks, and federal lands. The initiative doesn’t end there. The initiative also recruits volunteers to collect garbage on any federally-managed land, such as the National Park Service and National Forest Service. TrashBlitz app. The organization, in a press release provided to Travel + LeisureIt also offers science-based waste reduction recommendations.
TrashBlitz, a tool developed by 5 Gyres for tracking waste trends within national parks, has proven to be a valuable resource over the past three years. Nick Kemble is a 5 Gyres program associate. “We know from this data that single-use, disposable plastics are the worst offenders. We see the same brands in waste audits around the world,” he shared. “Systemic change, such as implementing reuse and filling systems, or switching to better alternative products, can have an immediate, real impact on waste reduction in national park.”
Kemble also said that plastics have dominated the trash logged in the app for three years. The group reported that it accounted for 75 percent of the waste collected. Food wrappers, bottles and bottle caps/rings were the most commonly found single-use items. Coca-Cola and Pepsi are the brands most often found. Gatorade is also common.
This information can then be used to push for more environmentally-friendly legislation, including the Reducing Waste in National Parks ActThis initiative aims to “eliminate sales and distribution of disposable products made from plastic.” The drastic reductions in funding to national parks make this work even more vital.
The TrashBlitz results from previous years highlight the urgency of addressing plastic pollution in national parks. Alison Waliszewski said that it is not time to cut resources and personnel for waste management and education. “We are all able to step up and help our parks, during this period. We’re asking the public to collect data that will push solutions forward.”
Volunteers are needed to collect data from now until October 31, 2025. Learn more about signing up here 5gyres.org/PlasticFreeParks.
