Living by the ocean during the last few years, I’ve become very passionate about ocean conservation.
By that, I mean I WILL certainly tell a stranger’s kids to stop digging at the cliffs. I will educate a vacationer on using the trashcan. It means I’ll happily pick up bits and pieces of litter that wash up from the sea on my own free time.
What I’ve found throughout this time is that activism is surprisingly EASY.
Most of the time, it doesn’t require a big donation or even a lot of education.
True activism is a feeling you get when you see injustice.
Activism is simply the willingness to fight injustice – head on.
At the beginning of May, I got an opportunity to do just that. A personal invite from The Lonely Whale Foundation along with my good friend Isa to go whale watching and see the ocean and it’s intricate marine life first-hand.
Many of you may known Adrian Grenier from his movies. Some of you may know him from his hit HBO show, Entourage, that was on for eight seasons. Some of you may be familiar with Adrian’s beer company, his production company or the musical acts he represents. This multi-talented man wears many hats.
That day, I got to know Adrian as a kind friend and a dedicated activist. Adrian started The Lonely Whale Foundation in 2015 in order to educate and inspire others about one of his greatest passions: ocean wildlife.
The Lonely Whale Foundation is dedicated to bringing people closer to the world’s oceans through education and awareness, inspiring empathy and action for ocean health and the wellbeing of marine wildlife.
What I learned is that 100,000 marine creatures die every year from plastics in our ocean.
On our whale watch alone, 6 plastic party balloons were saved from the sea.
It’s a privilege to live on such a beautiful planet with marine life. They’re incredible creatures. There is an endless planet underwater that needs our help to thrive. They’re our allies on the earth!
The government is doing NOTHING about this. ALL of the action happening to protect the ocean is privately funded. It comes from people who care opening their wallets and deciding that this is something they want to put their hard-earned money towards. That was eye opening to me.
Without any money to donate, I asked, what can we do?
Turns out, you may already be doing a lot of it. And some of the suggestions are so easy, I knew I had to share them with you! These suggestions were born from my conversations with Adrian and The Lonely Whale Foundation throughout the day.
Here are 4 simple ways that you can save the ocean:
4. 80 percent of pollution enters the ocean from the land. The average American throws away approximately 185 pounds of plastic per year. We use over 500 million straws every day in America, and most of those end up in our oceans, polluting the water and killing marine life. We want to encourage people to stop using plastic straws for good. If we don’t act now, by the year 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish.
By just simply switching to glass straws, you alone can save thousands of straws from unnecessarily being wasted in your lifetime. Here are the glass ones that I use! These bamboo straws are great too – also not as breakable as the glass! It depends on your preference. 🙂
3. There are still a few pockets of land in this world that are untouched – that strive to protect their marine life. One of the best ways that you can donate back to this preservation is by visiting and truly experiencing those places. There is no education quite like first-hand knowledge.
The next time you book a vacation or a retreat, research the culture of where you are visiting. What do they do to preserve their land and protect their wildlife?
For instance, I am running a wellness retreat in August in the paradise island of Huahine, Tahiti and the profits go straight back to the island. This will keep their reefs a clear, pristine aqua and their marine life thriving for many years. It’s very important to me that what I do gives back – and the feeling of knowing you’re helping to preserve the planet is unmatched to any other feeling of giving back. This is the very best way that you can educate, inspire and promote true organic living as well as save our oceans directly!
2. Few people realize that straws are among the top 10 items found during beach clean ups (I know I had no idea!) Straws can do so much harm to seabirds, turtles and other marine creatures. An estimated 71% of seabirds and 30% of turtles have been found with plastics in their stomachs. When they ingest plastic, marine life has a 50% mortality rate. What would our oceans be without marine life?
Already using glass straws? Awesome! Join the #stopsucking campaign! Just share a photo of yourself using a glass straw on FB, twitter or instagram and use hashtag #STOPSUCKING to express why it’s important to you. Spreading awareness of these facts is a key part to starting major change!
1. Always (and I mean ALWAYS) bring your to-go mug with you to the coffee shop, smoothie shop or restaurants. This saves countless plastic bottles being wasted – per day!!
I take my Swell bottle with me everywhere – since it carries both hot and cold drinks, I don’t have to worry about if I need to bring tea or a smoothie (or bring a smoothie and then get tea!) This is one of my favorite ways to reduce lids, plastic cups and/or plastic-lined cups. I used this method on my recent scouting trip to Tahiti and it saved me dozens of plastic bottles!
The biggest thank you to The Lonely Whale Foundation, Adrian Grenier + Isa’s Restoratives, for the best day ever, and for bringing awareness to this important cause.