Baltimore’s youngest trash wheel — Gwynnda the Good Wheel of the West — has new parents, thanks to the Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore’s collaboration with Paramount and Nickelodeon.
A multiyear global ocean conservation initiative dubbed “SpongeBob SquarePants: Operation Sea Change” left its mark Thursday on Gwynnda, who now sports a high-fiving SpongeBob SquarePants and Patrick Star on her side.
“This adoption of Baltimore’s fourth Trash Wheel, Gwynnda the Good Wheel of the West, will fund the removal of over 500,000 pounds of trash and debris while educating children and families across the world about ocean pollution and how to stop it,” said Adam Lindquist, vice president of the Healthy Harbor Initiative at the Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore, in a news release.
“SpongeBob SquarePants: Operation Sea Change” will sponsor Gwynnda’s trash collection activities in West Baltimore’s Gwynns Falls through 2023, according to the news release, and aims to help remove five million pounds of ocean plastic over the next four years by working with a number of global nonprofit partners.
The Baltimore adoption was announced and the new SpongeBob design unveiled on World Oceans Day, June 8.
The trash wheel family, comprised of Mr. Trash Wheel, Professor Trash Wheel, Captain Trash Wheel and Gwynnda, has collected over 2,362.23 tons of trash since 2014, when the original Mr. Trash Wheel was born. The wheels’ most unusual catches include a guitar and a snake, plus nearly 2 million plastic bottles.
All the litter and debris they collect is diverted from potentially entering the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean.
Now, Gwynnda can do even more good.