Posts tagged ocean
Day 281: Everything Ends Up in the Ocean
Jul 7th
One of the many ways my family gives back is through ethical purchases.
We may not have millions dollars to donate but we do have to shop. My husband and are trying to make a difference with our purchasing power. Today my husband completed the give as he bought a new pair of sandals that are supporting our planet and giving back by a company that puts giving at the front of their mission.
Day 281: Give 281
We have somewhat traditional roles in our family except for one. My husband loves to shop for cloths. Shoes, shirts, pants, sweaters – it doesn’t really matter he just likes to shop. It took some time but I finally have got him on my shopping rules. When shopping the items have to say discount, sale, 50% off or free! He has has that part down to a science and now he looks for items that give back. Tags may read organic, recycled or a portion of your purchased donated.
Today he brought home a product he couldn’t wait to show me. Not only did he get the required “sale” price but most importantly he got a new pair of sandals from a company called Ocean Minded that give back to the planet with every purchase.
“We feel that as both a corporation, and a group of individuals, it is essential to understand that‘eventually, everything ends up in the ocean.”
Ocean Minded has partnered with The Surfrider Foundation whom I posted about on Day 233. To date they have donated over $10,000 to help support this Foundation that also gives so much back to the planet. One of the things that impressed me most about Ocean Minded is not only do they donate a portion of each sale to charity but how their product is made. They make every effort to used materials that are:
- Recycled
- Organic
- Vegan
- Metal Free
- Water Based Glue
- Hemp
It doesn’t stop there the giving just keeps going. Over the last 2 years they have hosted over 70 volunteer beach clean ups and collected over 25,000 pounds of garbage. Just when I thought I was a good beach garbage picker!
Companies like Ocean Minded are popping up everywhere. From shoes, to soap, to your food – you can make a decision to give back with many of your purchases. Before you buy something today think about how it will be impacting our planet?
Let us know what great products you purchase that are giving back. Leave a comment.
Cost: donation made by the company with the purchase
Time Commitment: 0
Day 233: Do You Know A Not-For-Profit that Could Use $50,000! Vote Now!
May 20th
If you want to grab my attention call your site “Good“. It’s even easier to pull me in when I have a chance to help a not-for-profit organization win $50,000.
Give 233: Day 233
What is GOOD? (information quoted from the site)
“GOOD is the integrated media platform for people who want to live well and do good.”
You don’t need to say another word to get me to sign up. Waiting for me in my inbox from Good this week was a great way to give. One vote, one click and one of 6 organizations have the chance to win $50,000.
All the organizations are truly inspiring but it wasn’t hard for me to choose, I was instantly drawn to on one organization called The Surfrider Foundation. I wake up every morning to a stunning view of the ocean. My son and I are on the beach playing every chance we get. I’m was born a Pieces so I am drawn to the water naturally and I know how much it’s suffering these days. If you watch the video on the Good site it is said so well by legendary surfer Laird Hamilton who works with the Surfrider Foundation ” The ocean like it’s own country, it should have it’s own flag and an army to protect it.”
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LTMnbYc2co&feature=player_embedded
Just by voting I felt like I was part of that army that will help protect the ocean. $50,000 is a lot of money for any organization. Who will you vote for today? Contests ends today so vote now!
Time Commitment: 1 minute
Cost: 0
Day 229: I Walked Along the Bottom of the Ocean & Look What I Found (Arsenic Lead Chromium)
May 16th
West Vancouver Seawall
Today was one of those socked in days here in Vancouver. We have had one of the coldest Aprils (and now May too) on record and today was no different.
Since I have a 3 year old and two dogs, I have no choice but to get outside no matter what the weather was like but today we went on a new adventure and gave at the same time.
My son and I took a long walk along the ocean floor and found a few things that amazed us. They weren’t fish and shells either!
Day 229: Give 229
On a rare day here we can drive down to the seawall that lines the West Vancouver ocean and instead of seeing water right up to the rocks we see land. The tide was extremely low today. It felt like we could almost walk from West Vancouver to Stanley Park. There is a beacon (or as my son calls it a lighthouse) about 500 feet from the seawall. Today we had the opportunity to walk all the way out to this beacon on what felt like a great adventure for my son. About half way out it started pouring rain but we marched on to reach our destination.
Along the way I started noticing a few items that didn’t belong to the ocean. Stuck in the sand we came across not one but two grocery carts that had obviously been there for a long time covered in barnacles and seaweed. It saddened me that we couldn’t pull them out of ground and also help the ocean at the same time. What we did find were many great treasures my son started pointing out to me.
- 1 pen
- 1 plastic bag
- 1 licence plate
- 1 bus ticket
- 1 hunk of Styrofoam
- 1 tennis ball
- A few unidentifiable pieces of junk no longer visible as they were covered in sea sludge.
We may not have been able to pull the old grocery carts out of their watery grave but we were able to help our planet a little by picking up the small pieces of garbage we found along the way. I did a little search on just one of the pieces of garbage we picked to see what was actually in it that may be harmful to the ocean and planet. I chose the tennis ball because many dogs play, chase and chew tennis balls. I have never really thought about how it may be effecting their health let alone the planets until now.
Information on the chemical make up of a tennis ball taken from Healthystuff for Pets. (tests vary based on brand)
Lead, Arsenic, Chromium. All good for the fish, that planet and humans? NOT! Our walk along the ocean floor definitely gave us an adventure, an opportunity to give and a good lesson. I was actually pleasantly surprised how little garbage there was considering in some areas of the world you would be doing a garbage dump walk on the ocean floor rather than an ocean floor walk. Take a little time, no matter where you live and pick up some garbage. It takes so little energy and gives so much back.
Time Commitment: 30 seconds to bend down and pick up some garbage
Cost: 0
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