Alongside the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the Shedd Aquarium, we’ve led the charge to produce the In Our Hands campaign. This campaign is a collaborative effort among 19 aquariums across the country to bring awareness and action to the issue of plastic pollution.This campaign seeks to empower the participating aquariums’ 20 million visitors and millions more in their communities to shift away from single-use plastics and adopt innovative alternatives. The aquariums within the ACP have also pledged to significantly reduce or eliminate plastic beverage bottles by December 2020 and showcase innovative alternatives to single-use plastics in their facilities. 

The National Aquarium, working in tandem with onsite partners Sodexo, the Classic Catering People, Pepsi and others, is a leader on this front, having eliminated all single-use plastic foodware in the building earlier this year. This transition will eliminate the average 85,000 single-use soda and juice bottles previously sold within the building each year. Although these plastics had been recycled in the past, diverting them from landfills and preventing them from becoming ocean pollution, they still required the use of resources such as electricity, oil and water. These resources will now be conserved. 

To learn more and get involved in the campaign, visit www.ourhands.org.