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Live like you love the ocean!

Monday, May 25, 2009

Huffington Post: Your blue marble

The Huffington Post
MAY 25, 2009

Wallace J Nichols
Posted: May 25, 2009 07:26 PM

What will you do with your blue marble?

Read More: Environment, Environmentalism, Ocean, Ocean Day, Pollution, Recycling, Green News

Do you know where to get the best local, sustainable seafood? Do you clean up plastic litter, even if it's not yours and no one is watching? Do you take reusable bags to the grocery store? In other words, do you live blue?
Well then, here's a marble.

If someone hands you a small blue marble don't be surprised. Here's what to do: give it away to someone who is also taking care of our little blue planet. Or give it to someone else along with a tip about how to live blue: where to get the best local organic food, how to avoid plastic waste, or which politicians and businesses are true blue.

Then pause for a moment and consider that tens of thousands of similar recycled-glass blue marbles are passing from hand to hand right now, making their way around the Earth, our big blue marble. If you get one, give one. And then, please share your story with all of us at BlueMarbles.org and inspire others to live blue. Next World Ocean Day, in June 2010, we'll check in on all the stories those blue marbles tell.

Blue Marble is the name given to the most replicated photo ever, it's the one made by Apollo 17 astronauts in 1972 as they pointed their Hasselblad camera back at an illuminated Earth. From up there we looked small, fragile, beautiful...and blue. Sort of like a blue marble.


Understandably, the green patches of our planet get most of the eco-attention--albeit not nearly enough--while the blue expanses quietly take the hit. I've heard it said that less than 1% of eco-funding goes to caring for the blue world. But, the fact is we live on a blue planet, not a green one, or a brown one. Earth is mostly water, surrounded by a light blue or dark blue sky. Life came from the ocean, and most of our planet's life and habitable space is in the ocean. We know all too well that the ocean gives us our climate, the air we breathe, and food to eat.

But we've treated Big Blue like a giant dump. Our chemicals, exhaust, emissions and trash are blown away with the breeze or washed away with the tide. Invisible. Out of sight. Out of mind. Global warming, ocean acidification, toxic seafood and plastic-laden seas and beaches mean that dilution is no longer a viable solution to pollution.

But our hope isn't false or shallow. Soon, the health of the ocean, once the wallflower of the environmental movement, will move to center stage, and not a moment too soon.

Those in the know say that 2010 is going to be a big year for the blue parts of our planet. Beginning with World Ocean Day this June 8th (now recognized by the UN) a string of ocean events flows outward including the 100th anniversary of the birthday of Archie Carr, the father of sea turtle conservation, the premier of the IMAX film OCEAN, World Ocean Day 2010 and the anniversary of Jacques Cousteau's 100th birthday. Ocean explorer Dr. Sylvia Earle, aka "Her Deepness," has made a global network of marine protected areas her TED Prize wish. Our new administration put an ocean scientist Dr. Jane Lubchenco at the helm of NOAA and is poised to change climate change and energy policies at home and around the world for the better (to put it mildly).

The message is quite clear: we must do more for the ocean, we must do it better and we must do it now.
Your local "blue" organizations--the frontline warriors--need your help. These days "help" means money, so update your memberships at your favorite grassroots non-profit. While you're at it, renew your commitment to the national organizations like Ocean Champions, Ocean Conservancy and Oceana, the people who, day-in and day-out, lobby for and shape the plans and policies that will restore healthy oceans. Without our support these groups are not going to make it, which means neither will we.

If you're not convinced, just consider what our ocean would look like without the people who have fought for it through the years. More oil rigs, an extra few thousand tons of trash, lots more runoff, fewer fish, whales and turtles, lack of public access and poorer ocean illiteracy leap to mind.

But it's not all about what they do. It's also about each of us. Hit the beach, roll up your sleeves and volunteer to pick up that trash even when no one is watching, eat "blue" by making the most local and sustainable choices and shop "blue" by looking for reusables and biodegradables first.

We all owe these ocean saints a world of thanks. Maybe your neighbor, teacher, co-worker or partner is one of them. In fact, I'll bet you're one of them, too. If so, then one day, very soon, I hope someone puts a blue marble into your hand and says, "thank you."

And then, when that blue marble is yours, you'll know exactly what to do with it.

Friday, May 22, 2009

LIVBLUE: Blue Marble Movement

The Blue Marble Movement

Here's a simple, wonderful concept: Send a blue marble to folks who are living a life that preserves OUR blue marble -- this beautiful Planet Earth. Encourage them to "pay it forward" and pass the marble along to others who are doing the same. Collect the stories of these marbles & people as they journey around the planet. (In prose and poetry, in pictures and videos.) Then share the stories on a day of celebration.

Read more at the Monterey Bay Aquarium site HERE

Thursday, May 21, 2009

LIVBLUE: Celebrate World Ocean Day @ Ocean Revolution 5

Ocean Revolutionaries,

Celebrate World Ocean Day on June 5th at Ocean REVolution 5 @ The Catalyst in downtown Santa Cruz, CA

Support our great local ocean advocate at Ocean Revolution, Save The Waves, Save Our Shores, Ocean Conservancy, Surfrider, Ocean Conservancy, FishWise and O'Neill Sea Odyssey

We're proud to announce The Mother Hips and Hot Buttered Rum will be making musical bliss for the ocean.  See www.catalystclub.com for tickets and more info.

For the past five years we have celebrated World Ocean Day with powerful music delivered by ocean-loving musicians, uniting our ocean advocacy efforts and recognizing that the future of the ocean is in our generation's hands.  This isn't a fundraiser or an educational event...it's just really, really good live music for the ocean with our friends. Spread the word about these great organizations and celebrate our accomplishments and the good hard work ahead.

Each year we produce a new concert poster, now sought after collectibles.  The OR5 poster is attached as a pdf.  Feel free to print, post, email and otherwise distribute far and wide.

Thanks to Max Davis for design work and a big thanks to The Mother Hips and Hot Buttered Rum!!

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Experimental project to clean Pacific Ocean garbage patch

Project Kaisei is a bold attempt to filter out and recycle plastic from the continent-sized patch of garbage in the Pacific Ocean.

Read more HERE

Monday, May 4, 2009

LIVBLUE: Get Outside Yourself

New Volunteer Match Program Connects Travelers with Sea Turtle Conservation Projects

For your next volunteer vacation, how about a close-up and personal encounter with one of the world's most mystical and prehistoric creatures? That is what engagement with sea turtles is all about. There are many projects around the world that work in sea turtle conservation. In order to find the best one for you, check out the new volunteer placement service that SEE Turtles is offering at www.seeturtles.org. The free service matches interested travelers with sea turtle projects in Mexico, Costa Rica, Tobago, Guatemala, and Nicaragua.

Read More HERE