Out of the BLU

The Auxiliary Board of The Shedd Aquarium is pleased to present its 13th Annual Fundraiser - BLU on Saturday July 27.  This year's event, "Out of the BLU" will be Chicago's largest ZERO WASTE event, encouraging our guests to consider the impact of the materials we use in our everyday lives and how each of us can contribute to an overall reduction of waste that ends up in landfills and our oceans.  The Auxiliary Board's annual fundraising event, BLU, is your chance to support this vision as well as our work combating plastic pollution. As a Zero Waste event, BLU aims to decrease harmful debris that wind up in our waterways and negatively impacts our BLU planet.

On Earth Day of 2017, Shedd Aquarium began its endeavor to reduce plastic pollution locally with simple actions, like choosing to Shedd the Straw. Since then, we’ve seen encouraging progress: More than 100 restaurants have committed to the Shedd the Straw program, as have the White Sox and concessionaires at Guaranteed Rate Field. Many more people are joining the movement individually. Shedd is now challenging individuals and communities to go beyond the straw and reduce their use of other forms of single-use plastics, like plastic bottles and plastic bags, in favor of reusable alternatives. #LetsSheddPlastic altogether!

From April through October, Shedd's Great Lakes Action Day beach cleanups offer families, friends, school kids and corporate groups an opportunity to help us scour our local lakeshore for debris. Since 2012, GLAD volunteers have picked up 6,456 straws and stirrer sticks, 3,323 plastic beverage bottles and 4,361 plastic bags. Every bit of recyclable plastic went off to a recycling center.

The funds we raise through BLU from our generous sponsors, contributors and attendees contribute directly to Shedd's mission to spark compassion, curiosity and conservation for the aquatic animal world.