Take Action & Learn | Join The Environmental Movement
All living things that Earth sustains are in jeopardy. We are experiencing a profoundly serious crisis, to varying degrees of severity, depending where we are situated on the planet, and our socio-economic status.
Our oceans are heavily polluted, overfished, and are warming; the climate is changing faster and more aggressively than predicted causing unprecedented extreme weather like drought, fires, flooding, hurricanes and more exposure to deadly disease. Fossil fuel extraction and deforestation continue, while ecosystems deteriorate, and more and more species become extinct.
Although humans are responsible for this catastrophic situation, we can also TAKE ACTION to mitigate the damage. There ARE solutions. We just need to step up to the challenge.
That means us!
The Jellyfish Project aims to inspire youth to become environmental stewards by empowering them with the tools to take action and the knowledge that individuals, no matter how old, can make a difference.
You, too, can be part of the solution. Change your channel from feeling hopeless to hopeful, helpless, to helpful.
“When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”
Here are some of the many great organizations, campaigns, books and roadmaps for action to check out!
Every year, millions of tons of plastic enter the oceans - the equivalent of about 1 garbage bag full per foot of shoreline around the world per year. Some of it travels from rivers to the ocean garbage patches, getting caught in vortexes of circulating currents. As this pollution grows, it impacts sea life, ecosystems, and human health. It’s estimated that we may each ingest as much as a credit card worth of plastic each year!
The Ocean Cleanup project was started by a young Dutch inventor, Boylan Slat, in 2013, to develop technologies to remove this plastic waste from the oceans, and help stop it at the source. Support their work by buying an up-cycled pair of plastic sunglasses, donating, or doing your part to stop plastic waste.
Drawdown is the future point in time when levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere stop climbing and start to steadily decline. This is the point when we begin the process of stopping further climate change and averting potentially catastrophic warming.
Drawdown is a book - a comprehensive resource for understanding and implementing the solutions to the climate crisis, but it’s much more than that. Project Drawdown is also an organization that offers an incredible array of rigorously reviewed climate solutions that we can adopt today, alongside learning modules and handy info graphics to help us understand and take action. Check out their Climate Solutions 101 online course.
A reference to ‘The New Deal’ of the 1930s - a series of programs and projects that helped pull the United States out of the Great Depression by investing in people, infrastructure and the grassroots economy.
People are calling for a Green New Deal that recognizes the urgency of our interrelated crises - the climate emergency, the COVID-19 pandemic, economic inequality, ongoing colonization, racism, and other social and environmental injustices - and the scale of change necessary to tackle them. It is a call for massive societal transformation, and investment in a green and equitable future. Find out more from the Council of Canadians.
Lettuce Harvest
Lettuce Harvest is a youth-led registered non-profit based in East Vancouver that sees increasing local production of fruits and vegetables as one of the best ways to create resilient, climate friendly communities. Their model redefines the typical idea of a community garden, by focusing on working collectively. Using front and back yard space donated by community members, they help volunteer gardeners work together to produce a harvest. This food is then distributed amongst the neighbourhood volunteers and homeowners, with all excess food being donated to local community groups feeding those most in need.
Roots & Shoots is an initiative of the Jane Goodall Institute whose mission is to empower young people to affect positive change in their communities. Being a part of Roots & Shoots means standing up to solve problems relating to – social justice, pollution, climate change, and more. Roots & Shoots provides the support, resources, tools, and leadership training to empower you to take action.
The David Suzuki Foundation is committed to protecting the diversity of nature and our quality of life, now and for the future. They collaborate with Canadians from all walks of life, including government and business, to conserve our environment and find solutions that will create a sustainable Canada through science-based research, education and policy work.
Mission Blue inspires action to explore and protect the ocean by uniting a global coalition to ignite public awareness and support for a worldwide network of marine protected areas. Over 200 organizations have rallied around Mission Blue’s vision of 30% protection of the ocean by the year 2030.
Ocean Wise is a Vancouver Aquarium conservation program created to educate and empower consumers about the issues surrounding sustainable seafood. The Ocean Wise symbol next to a menu or seafood item is the Vancouver Aquarium's assurance that the item is a good choice for keeping ocean life healthy and abundant for generations to come.
Empower your students to create positive change. The best web-based teaching tools for an evolving world. Developed by teachers, for teachers. GreenLearning creates free online education programs about energy, climate change and green economy that engage and empower students to create positive change for our evolving world.
The Institute for Sustainability Education & Action was created to broaden and deepen the understanding, appreciation, and commitment to sustainability locally throughout the Gulf Islands of British Columbia, as well as internationally. This vision is achieved through educational projects, strategic collaborations, communications and research.
