Only a few months back, a friend told me that we are all racist in some way. Though my immediate thought was “I’m not racist. I believe in equality.” Though I felt defensive, I also recognized I didn’t fully understand her comment and have since tried to understand what she meant.
Hace solo unos meses, un amigo me dijo que todos somos racistas de alguna manera. Mi pensamiento inmediato fue “No soy racista. Creo en la igualdad “. Aunque me sentí a la defensiva, también reconocí que no entendía completamente su comentario y desde entonces intenté entender lo que quería decir.
This year’s World Oceans Day (or World Oceans Week) feels different for a multitude of reasons. Most of which I need not explain. So that prompted me to do something a little different as well. What bodies of water don’t get a day or a week commemorated in their honor? Lakes and rivers. DID YOU KNOW freshwater lakes are now heavily affected by microplastic pollution? Did you also know that most major rivers flow into the ocean? These lesser honored bodies of water deserve as much attention for many reasons.
We hope everyone has come through the recent months in health and with a happy heart. In these trying times, it’s been extremely difficult to get a clear understanding of what we CAN do this year.
We hope this year, on World Oceans Day, and with our economy re-opening, everyone can take a step back and embrace whatever new normal is right for them.
World Oceans Day also kicks off our Make Canada Clean Again initiative.
The sea is an experience, a feeling, a connection, it is one that houses many. Any thinking being who has been drawn to this great blue mantle can share and agree with this. But what is it that draws us to the ocean? We are not an underwater species, nor do we have the advantage to breathe underwater, but our bodies are made of mainly water. We need to connect to the ocean.
“We cannot protect something we do not love, we cannot love what we do not know, and we cannot know what we do not see. And touch. And hear.” – Richard Louv.
For many people, the ocean is a nice place to relax, unwind, and gather thoughts. We sit at the beach and watch wave after wave come in. But the ocean is so much more than that. It’s difficult to imagine the wide array of life that thrives beneath the surface of the water if you’ve never been diving or snorkelling. It’s not like going for a walk in the woods, where you can immediately see some of what nature has to offer. That’s why it’s so important to share images and videos of the beautiful creatures that call our rivers, lakes, and oceans home, making visible the beauty of these aquatic environments.
I think I have rewritten this blog two, three, four times in the last three days now. After being in quarantine for about three months now it seems a long time ago I was out there making a difference, at some deserted beach looking for plastic, or in front of a group of people explaining to them why I think the circular economy could be a great solution for ocean plastic pollution.
WORLD OCEANS DAY 2020: Co-founder of Cleanwave and Director of Out of Plastic, Line Hadsbjerg, joins Executive Director of Plastic Oceans Europe, Mike Bilodeau, for a live chat. Tune in on the POE Instagram page to hear them discuss marine pollution, island life, film making, and much more. This will be a great chat, so be sure to tune in!
This is a Facebook Live event with Work For Impact CEO, Geoff Hucker in conversation with Plastic Oceans Canada’s Executive Director, Adrian Midwood in celebration of World Oceans Day. Topics that will be discussed:
– Fundraising during a time of crisis
– How freelancers can assist Charities and Not for Profits
– World Oceans Day
We, as inhabitants of Mexico City, one of the largest metropolises in the world, have a great responsibility regarding the waste generated within the city. All the garbage that we generate day by day, and that we remove from our houses, disappears from our near reality but not from the larger world. Sadly, natural areas, the oceans in particular, have become designated dumps of everything we call garbage. Cities are largely responsible for the serious effects this has on terrestrial and marine ecosystems at all levels.
