Blue Friday

The waterway conservation brand will be collecting data from the nationwide DIY cleanup initiative and sharing it with researchers, nonprofits, and government agencies

For the third year in a row, United By Blue urges consumers to re-evaluate their plans the day after #Thanksgiving and participate in a Blue Friday DIY cleanup . The third-annual #BlueFriday takes place on Friday, November 23rd, in communities across the globe. Blue Friday encourages friends, family, and community members to spend an hour of their time outside picking up trash and join #theBluemovement community.

For the first time, and for every year hereafter, United By Blue will be collecting and sharing data from the Blue Friday initiative with the science community. The data collected will include cleanup location, quantities of various items collected (plastic straws, plastic bags, plastic bottles, and plastic cutlery), and the most interesting items found.

“After collecting feedback from partner organizations and scientists working on marine debris research, we believe it’s important to monitor specific data points from all Blue Friday cleanups,” says Offner. “That data will be shared with the science community, United By Blue customers, our volunteers, and our partners to shed light on the volume of plastic entering waterways, and to hopefully inform future ocean protection policies and consumer packaging laws.”

United By Blue pulled their first pound of trash in 2010, the week they sold their first t-shirt. Since then, they have pulled 1,456,264 lbs of trash across 250 company organized and hosted cleanups spanning 48 states.

You can learn more about Blue Friday and how to get involved online at unitedbyblue.com/bluefriday. Digital kits (free) include a data collection card and  how-to guide and are available online at unitedbyblue.com/bfkit. Blue Friday participants have until November 30th to submit their collected data.

Photos: United By Blue