Global Network Of Local Partnerships Aims to Inspire Change Worldwide
January 13, 2021 – Malibu, California, USA – Plastic Oceans International announces the launch of its BlueCommunities initiative, a global network that establishes collaborative partnerships with local communities and organizations, supporting projects that can inspire change worldwide.
Welcoming in 2021! Here’s to another year filled with hope and opportunities to learn from the challenges we have faced over the past year.
“Together is better.” “Each of us matters.” “Every action counts.” Though each of these phrases resonate true to our purpose, they are often repeated to the point where they can feel cliche when we do not see immediate results. Our individual actions and motivational taglines can feel overshadowed by the hope and promises made by countries or large corporations claiming to solve our problems for us. However, as years pass and problems continue, we have learned that it is individuals and communities working together that truly drive change.
Evolution. Adapt to the changing environment or become extinct.
This is one of Charles Darwin’s epic contributions to the evolution of thought and global education. I don’t think he could have ever imagined the human population climbing to nearly 8 billion and that we would become such a force upon the earth as to change the climate. We have in fact created our own epoch; the Anthropocene.
With everything that was thrown at us in 2020, and everything we continue to throw out at the world in turn, early January 2021 has often felt like a lonely place to be, with a long year of unknowns ahead. But hope springs eternal, as they say, and here at Plastic Oceans International we thought that hearing from a wide range of notable voices, on their hopes for this new year would help us all gather ourselves and push on towards brave, positive horizons.
It would be a bit of an understatement to say that 2020 was a rough year. No matter where you were in the world, your life was affected in some way or another by the global pandemic. In March, the world came to a standstill as we were all told to stay at home to stop the spread of the COVID19 virus.
On New Year’s Day, after nearly two years of preparation, Mexico City became one of the largest municipalities in the world to ban most single-use plastic items.
Even in the deserts of the Arabian Peninsula, plastic pollution is not just apparent, but lethal – as detailed by the recent discovery of an alarming plastic problem among the desert ecosystem’s most iconic animal — the camel.
What once began as a religious holiday and a jolly celebration of life has now become a season of spending, splurging and over-indulgence. How did it get this way?
Christmas is the annual Christian festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, which is primarily observed on the 25th of December. It is celebrated all around the world in a whole manner of different ways but usually involving a gathering of family and friends and the sharing of a meal.
The holidays are quickly approaching and the shopping frenzy makes it hard to to be aware of the waste that’s involved with the season. Creating a more sustainable holiday is something we can all do with a very small effort. Here are some ideas to gift with meaning, purpose, and without the plastic!
In a report released on Tuesday, by Oceana, it was estimated that online retail giant, Amazon.com, was responsible for generating more than 465 million pounds of plastic packaging waste in 2019. They further estimate that 22 million pounds of that is ending up in our marine and freshwater ecosystems, adding to the growing problems created by plastic pollution.