by Beth Terry
Remember last year when I dressed as a Brita filter for the Bay to Breakers to promote the Take Back The Filter Campaign? And remember how I said I wouldn’t do it without at least one volunteer? Tanya and Christa accepted the challenge and were awesome!
This year, I would love to find more volunteers to help me bring the North Pacific Gyre (aka Pacific Garbage Patch) to San Francisco to let people know about the problem with plastic.
As you know, for almost two years now I have been hoarding my own plastic waste. In fact, I’ve amassed quite a collection, as you’ll see in the most recent Fake Plastic Fish video:
(If you’re viewing this post via email or reader, you’ll probably need to click onto the blog to see the video.)
My idea: I envision us in beautiful plastic costumes, created from as much of this plastic collection as possible, twirling together across San Francisco, imitating the motion of the Gyre. (I’m inspired by all the episodes of Project Runway I’ve watched recently.) I see some fish and birds and sea turtles caught up in the mass of plastic somehow. We’re handing out small fliers printed on recycled paper, providing facts and resource information. And we’re probably wearing signs, either in our hands or attached to our bodies in some way.
Each year, Bay to Breakers holds a costume contest. Last year, they had a green category. I don’t know what the categories will be this year, but I’m hoping for another green one. I believe that in order to participate in the costume contest, you must be a registered participant. This means paying the entry fee of $44 ($48 after April 30.)
Anyone know of an organization that would sponsor us?
We’ll need not only volunteers to show up on that day (Sunday, May 17, 2009) but also smart, creative people to offer advice, suggestions, crafty ideas. In other words, you don’t have to live in the Bay Area to help out.
I’m going to start on costume design this weekend. Anyone else in?
