(Portland Mayor Sam Adams with Anna Cummins and Marcus Eriksen from Algalita Marine Resource Foundation, presenting the mayor with an actual sample from the North Pacific Gyre)

Beyond my duties at Wend, I’m the chair of my local Surfrider Chapter In Portland. We’ve been working on a Ban The Bag campaign which is working to ban the single use plastic shopping bag in the Portland metro area. Ultimately, banning the bag is just the beginning, as plastic pollution is ubiquitous, and bags only amount to 1% of it. Initially, Portland Mayor Sam Adams was worried about taking the issue up in a down economy, but after hearing public support for it, Sam was willing to help. Ultimately, at a party that Surfrider, Wend and Keen threw last night celebrating the folks from Junkride, Sam warned that there would be push back from the plastics industry. And he’s right. There will be. But, it’s good to have the mayor in your camp, and we’ll be working hard to get the message out.

Special thanks to the over 300 people who showed up last night to support this cause. Thanks to Megan Ponder from the mayor’s office, Mayor Sam Adams, Jessica Hamilton from the governor’s office, Anna Cummins and Dr. Marcus Eriksen from Junkride, The Portland Surfrider Chapter, Micah Wolf, Alaskan Brewing Co., Barefoot Wine, The Portland Surfrider Chapter, Brian Lee, Linda Tom, James Curleigh and Chris Enlow from Keen, and Leave No Plastic Behind