“The concept of using durable, petroleum plastics, designed to last for hundreds of thousands of years, to carry groceries or seal a sandwich for an hour is ludicrous.” -Anna Cummins, “Sailing the Synthetic Sea,” Volume 3 issue 4 of Wend.

Plastics are destroying our oceans, and yet it’s taken a long time to get communities and governments to commit to working towards gleaning us off of our plastic dependency, so in 2008 a team of Algalita Marine Research Foundation staff set sail from Los Angeles to Hawaii on JUNKRaft, a raft made from 15,000 plastic bottles in order to raise awareness about plastic marine debris.

Now JUNKRaft has turned into JUNKRide, with two Algalita staff, Anna Cummins and Dr. Marcus Eriksen, cycling from Vancouver, B.C. to Tijuana, Mexico educating organizations and legislators along the way. The duo will be stopping off in Portland to highlight the voyage of JUNKraft, and tell you all about the evils of plastic. There will also be entertainment by singer/songwriter Micah Wolf and drinks by Alaskan Brewing beer and Barefoot wines available for purchase, with all proceeds going to benefit Portland Chapter Surfrider’s Ban The Bag campaign. All in all an excellent evening.

So come next Tuesday, April 21st, to learn about the plastic plague and help out in getting the plastic bag banned in Portland. Earth will thank you.

Where: Keen Footwear Headquarters,
926 NW 13th Ave # 210, PDX

When: Tuesday, April 21st. 6:30 – 9:00 pm

Who: All ages!