What brands like La Mer and adidas, and organizations like WWF and the UN are doing, and how you can participate.
READ ALSO:
Every year, the world celebrates World Oceans Day on June 8 to highlight the benefits of the ocean to humans and encourage action in saving it from further destruction. The oceans, after all, cover approximately 70 percent of the earth’s surface, giving life to plants, animals, and other organisms.
This year’s theme, “The Ocean: Life and Livelihoods,” reiterates the importance of the said body of water, which sustains human life and a source of income. To participate in protecting and restoring the world’s oceans today and beyond, here are things you can do.
Listen to an audiobook
While much has been said about the world’s oceans, the threats it is facing, and what can be done to protect it, continuously educating people about it is imperative.
Lifestyle brand Grounded and non-government organization Oceanus Conservation recognizes the need to raise awareness and inspire action to protect the world’s oceans, which is why for this year’s celebration of World Oceans Day, they tapped Scarlet Snow Belo and Andi Eigenmann for an audiobook. It’s part of their current campaign, #OceanLiteracyForAll.
Called Ocean Adventures with Cory, the audiobook “teaches children how to take care of and protect the unique and beautiful underwater ecosystem. It tells the story of Cory the Polyp, voiced by Scarlet Snow Belo in the English version who goes on an underwater adventure to discover Philippine reefs. Eigenmann, meanwhile, narrates the story in Filipino.
The audiobook is meant for children, but even adults can learn a thing or two from the stories.
Both English and Filipino versions of Ocean Adventures with Cory, written by environmental NGO workers Camille Rivera and Aoibheann Gillespie-Mules, and illustrated by Cy Lagamson, are now available for streaming at Grounded Radio on Spotify.
Start composting
Composting is a practice often overlooked in ocean conservation efforts primarily because most people do not see an immediate connection.
The act of recycling food scraps into a decomposed organic matter, however, helps divert at least 20 to 30 percent of household waste from landfills and oceans. This reduces carbon emissions, and provides alternative fertilizers in place of those that contain waterway-clogging, algal blooms-causing nitrates and phosphates.
If you are in need of guidance in getting your compost started, the World Wide Fund for Nature-Philippines (WWF-Philippines) is about to release the country’s first ever composting mobile app.
Called SoilMate, the soon-to-be-available app lets you customize it where you’re composting, whether at home or at the office, track your compost’s progress, and even let you book and pick up a composting bucket. It also has your profile as a “soilmate,” which shows how long and how much you have composted. It also allows you to earn rewards for free compost and help community gardens. Now, that’s composting elevated.
Run
Running alone gives you the opportunity to contribute to ocean conservation efforts, thanks to Run for the Ocean, an initiative from Adidas and environmental organization, Parley for the Oceans.
For every kilometer run and recorded using the brand’s running app from May 28 to June, Adidas and Parley for the Oceans will clean up the equivalent weight of 10 plastic bottles from beaches, remote islands, and communities.
To join, simply download the Adidas Running app, signing up, and tracking your runs. Get an Adidas running shoe while you’re at it. The brand has helped produce more than 30 million pairs of shoes made from plastic waste Parley Ocean has intercepted on beaches and coastal communities.
Join the conversation
For a better understanding on just how important the ocean is and how to ensure the sustainable use of marine resources, it’s best to listen to the experts.
The United Nations, in celebration of World Oceans Day, is hosting a virtual event on June 8 (June 9 here in the Philippines) to “shed light on the wonder of the ocean and how it is our life source, supporting humanity and every other organization.”
The full day, virtual forum will feature over 40 thought leaders, celebrities, institutional partners, community voices, entrepreneurs, and cross-country experts, and will end with a concert.
Visit the UN World Oceans Day website and enter your email to RSVP.
Support brands that protect the ocean
Your ability to purchase is more than just a privilege. It can also be an opportunity to show your support for brands that champion efforts that preserve and protect the ocean.
Take La Mer, for instance. As a brand founded on the use of the Giant Sea Kelp in its key skincare ingredient, the Miracle Broth, La Mer has always harvested this fast-growing plant from off of the coast of Vancouver Island sustainably, while supporting ocean conservation through their BlueHeart Ocean Fund.
The skincare brand, which strongly believes that protecting the ocean means protecting human life, makes charitable donations through the program to help the future of oceans around the globe.
By simply choosing to buy La Mer products, the brand has been able to support: conservation initiatives in the Azores, Grenada, and East China Sea; the planting of 30,000 mangroves in the Carribean; and support EarthEcho’s OceanEcho 30×30 initiative, which aims to build a global youth movement to protect 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030.
Banner Photo by Dhaya Eddine Bentaleb on Unsplash
