The Pacific Vortex Challenge (PVC) is an ultra-marathon ocean relay race from Hawaii to Santa Monica Beach in Los Angeles, California, created by Richard Pain, an Australian filmmaker, environmentalist and open water swimmer.

The Pacific Vortex Challenge is a match race between two 8-member relay teams swimming 2,500 miles across the largest body of water on Earth, scheduled to start on 8 June 2014. The two teams of eight will swim through the biggest garbage dump on Earth: the Pacific Garbage Vortex (or the North Pacific Gyre).

Pain and his team announced the Pacific Vortex Challenge at the Plasticity in Rio event yesterday where the issue of plastic was voted the #1 priority out of the top 10 issues facing the world’s ocean in a United Nations online voting platform.

Their mission is reduce human consumption of single-use plastics and promote awareness of the environmental damage they cause.

“Plastic waste is poisoning our only planet. The Plasticity Forum will be highlighting these risks during the Rio+20 Earth Summit while also sourcing potential mitigating innovations. I’m proud to be participating and am excited to see what new approaches are presented, and inspired, by the event,” says Eben Bayer, CEO of Ecovative Design.

“Plasticity shows the world that plastic can be used, but that there are big opportunities for brands, companies and entrepreneurs who work to minimize its impact on the environment. The future of plastic is one where there is no plastic footprint,” says Doug Woodring.

Which is what Pain is trying to publicize with the Pacific Vortex Challenge.



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