This Man Plans to Hike 400 Miles on the Florida Coast to Collect Plastic

The world’s plastic waste problem might be incredibly daunting, but it has given rise to many wonderful initiatives developed by people who are ready and willing to devote their time and energy to make a positive change. Considering we produce 300 million tons of plastic every year and dump 8.8 million tons of them into the oceans, these acts are not only incredibly heartening and cheering – but also, very simply, seriously necessary.

One of such initiatives is the Plastic Awareness Beach Hike, the great undertaking of Juan Bryan Galvin Hernandez who created a GoFundMe page for his project in April 2017. The idea was to hike almost 400 miles across the Eastern shorelines of Florida,  collecting waste on the way, and bringing awareness to the issue of plastic Pollution through regular live streams and vlogs from the hike.

The trek’s planned route starts in Fernandina Beach and ends in Miami Beach. The entire hike is to last twenty days at the speed of twenty miles a day. The goal of the project is “to document, educate, and promote a better understanding of the impact created by everyday single-use plastics.”

Crowdfunding the project turned out to be very successful and on April 26^th, the hike was officially started. Bryan has been updating his website, PlasticSymptoms.org, daily as well as the project’s Facebook page, posting videos, photos, and recaps. On day three, he picked up almost 100 pounds of plastic waste discharged from the ocean! On day fifteen, the amount of collected waste grew to about 1,000 pounds – not including such findings as a big fishing net and a huge plastic barrel!

As the hike continues, the project’s originators urge Bryan’s audience to share his journey and updates to help raise awareness for our plastic problem!

Every serious and lasting change starts with a change in our mindset – that is why education and raising awareness are indispensable. To learn how to limit your own production of plastic waste, check out One Green Planet’s #CrushPlastic campaign!

Let’s #CrushPlastic! Click the graphic below for more information.

Image source: Plastic Symptoms/Facebook