Tom Jones’ world-record finish was big indeed with coverage by New York metro area media and especially by great stories aired nationally by FOX NEWS. Tom successfully completed one of the most grueling ultra-endurance events ever undertaken. Now, we are asking you to join us in a task of huge importance. To date, we have raised 1/3 of the $500,000 needed to create a model program for cleaning up the world’s oceans and tidal zones. We are now getting the national news coverage that this story deserves and it is making a difference, but your contribution is needed to make the Plastic Free Ocean mission a reality.

A number of organizations continue to study the scope and composition of plastic that is accumulating in the five ocean gyres. This is valuable from a scientific standpoint, but it is not directly addressing what we now know is the largest killer of marine wildlife, and the single most insidious and pervasive human health threat.

The time has come for aggressive action. Plastic Free Ocean has gathered the critical information and identified the necessary technology. In the simplest and most abbreviated form, here is what your contribution can do.

If you are a SUP enthusiast who can be in the New York City area on Thursday August 12th, you can paddle into New York City with Tom Jones as he sets a new World Record. To find out how you can participate, read on ...

Tom Jones is generously offering the 14’ and 11’ boards that he has used to paddle from Key West to New York City, and also the paddle that saw all 1500 miles of water, for a silent auction to benefit Plastic Free Ocean. These boards and this paddle have seen Tom through one of the most grueling ultra-endurance events ever undertaken in any sport.

Join Tom and the Plastic Free Ocean team Monday August 9th on the world famous Atlantic City Boardwalk. At about 4PM, Tom will paddle onto the beach in front of the Boardwalk at the foot of S. North Carolina Avenue. Get there at 2PM for a beach cleanup followed by an hour of live entertainment and snacks before Tom arrives.

The spill has now reached every area of the world’s oceans and tidal zones. According to researchers, it is killing at least a hundred thousand marine mammals a year, two million birds, thousands of turtles and countless fish and other creatures. It is likely that the spill is reducing reproductive rates in almost every kind of marine creature. It is permeating the entire food chain in the sea and on the land. New and more serious effects on human health are being discovered continually – from cancers to neurological disorders to sexual function and reproductive problems and more.

This most widespread and deadly threat to wildlife, human health and the environment is not what politicians discuss, what the media commonly reports or what most people think. Yet its documentation is clear. There is little question about its effects. Especially important, it is by far the most actionable of all major environmental issues.

Why is the global oil spill unknown by the great majority, and why is virtually nothing being done to even contain it, much less cure it?

Consider for a moment the possibility that plastic – not climate change or deforestation or even oil spills – is the most serious environmental threat facing mankind, and that it is both more immediate and far more actionable.

Are we wrong to give top priority to reducing our carbon footprint, and to focus so much effort, investment and regulatory fervor on fighting climate change? Why is so little political and governmental attention being paid to the research documented threats of plastic?

You can now view the complete route of Paddle 2010 on Google Earth. Click here to open the map: paddle_2010.kmz (16.13 KB)

If you don't already have Google Earth installed on your computer, you can get the latest version from here: http://earth.google.com

Plastic Free Ocean Facebook Page, Twitter and YouTube Channel are now live. Be among the first to "like" and "follow" the cause and Paddle 2010, and subscribe to the Plastic Free Ocean YouTube channel. Click on the links at left. If you have specific comments or suggestions, please use the "Contact Us" form.

Help us spread the word and support the cause by urging your friends and associates to visit www.plasticfreeocean.org to learn about the most serious and immediate threat to human health, wildlife and the environment.

Practically, it's so difficult to do sometimes.
I go to the gym and there's something gross in the drinking fountain, so I buy a bottled water. I'm traveling in an airport and really thirsty, so I purchase a big bottled water to stay hydrated on the plane. I'm on the go in the summer, running a bunch of errands, and run into a Starbucks to grab some water so I don't melt. In case you haven't heard the rhetoric, plastic bottles are bad.