Earlier this month, the first ever Ocean Heroes Bootcamp united youth leaders with high profile mentors like actor and activist Adrian Grenier, TV host Danni Washington, 5 Gyres co-founder and scientist Dr. Marcus Eriksen and Litterati founder Jeff Kirschner among others at the Audobon Aquarium in New Orleans. The goal? To guide 11 – 18 year old activists through a three day workshop combining science, campaign development coaching, team support and inspiration to help youth create their own campaigns to take action against ocean plastic pollution!
During the Bootcamp, 1,000 participants were split into “squads” and worked together to develop a campaign to reduce plastic pollution, starting with the single-use plastic straw. The campaigns they created during Ocean Heroes Bootcamp were then delivered to world leaders at the 2018 G7 Summit in Canada on World Environment Day, followed by a UN Environment-led cleanup in New Orleans. Are these kids amazing or what?!
In New Orleans’ own backyard, the Gulf of Mexico is loaded with some of the world’s highest concentrations of plastic due to fibers pouring in from the Mississippi River – an area often nicked “Cancer Alley” – making it especially relevant for Ocean Heroes Bootcamp to take place in this city. And for these young people, the fight to end plastic pollution is personal. Children at age 11 today will graduate from high school in the year 2025, when there will be one ton of plastic for every three tons of fish in the ocean. Thankfully, many kids are standing up and demanding change. Olivia and Carter Ries were 7 and 8 years old when they founded their own nonprofit, One More Generation (OMG), to work on ensuring that endangered species live for at least one more generation. They attended the Ocean Heroes Bootcamp, and here’s what they had to say!
Check out Olivia and Carter on TEDxYouth!
What led you to create One More Generation?
“We started One More Generation back in 2009 when our aunt traveled to South Africa and brought us both back a certificate saying that we were proud adoptive parents of cheetahs. The following year when it was time to renew the adoptions, we asked our dad why animals even needed to be adopted. He explained that unless there were agencies that were helping to save the cheetahs there might not be any when we get older or when we have kids. We knew we had to do something, so we came up with One More Generation.”
Where do you find your motivation?
Carter: “Well, we realized that we could not do this alone and that if we were to continue helping to save animals not only would we need help but we would have to educate the youth of today in order to have a better tomorrow. But the thing that motivates me is knowing that there are still good people in this world and that there are still people who are willing to help this planet and the plants and animals on it.”
Olivia: “When we traveled to different places such as South Africa and Vietnam, we saw some horrendous things, and we realized that some of the animals in the environments we visited were helpless, and we knew we had to do something because either no one else was or because these animals did not have a voice of their own to plead for their survival. We knew that we are the generation that has to make a difference before it is too late for anyone to do anything.”
What did you learn at Ocean Heroes Bootcamp?
Olivia: “For me, I saw the impact of the leaders and the speakers and what effect they were having on the young audience. I learned that education is key and without it, nothing gets done. These young leaders had ideas and had goals in mind, and with the tools and knowledge they received, they will and have already begun making a difference back home. My favorite moment was when the youth from my group and every group finally gave their pitch ideas, because at that moment, I knew that their goal was going to become a reality.”
Carter: “At the Bootcamp I learned that there are many different initiatives about plastic pollution and that you don’t have to be a celebrity to make a difference. One of the main highlights of the event is seeing what an impact everyone there had on the youth that attended. Also knowing that we are not alone in this fight to save our oceans.”
Plastic pollution has been discussed a lot as an oceans issue. How do you tackle this issue from landlocked Fayetteville, GA?
Olivia: “Fayetteville is landlocked and is hours away from any coast but that does not mean that we do not have an effect on the environment. Our plastic ends up with different companies and goes to different landfills, but yet it all seems to end up in the waterways and in the ocean. Our idea was the One Less Straw campaign, where we ask restaurants, schools, businesses, and individuals around the world, whether they be landlocked or not, to go straw free. This way, they are not handing out the straws and they are not being thrown away. If we can educate people everywhere, they will make a change. Whether it be small or big, whether it be to stop using a straw for one individual, or thousands, education is the key to saving our planet and that is how we tackle landlocked areas.”
Carter: “Even though we live in a landlocked city it does not mean we don’t see what is going on in our environment. Every day we see plastic trash just thrown on the ground, and we know where most trash ends up – the ocean. So by creating a curriculum that teaches people the importance of recycling and precycling (the act of not buying something you know cannot be recycled) we hope that the more we educate people the less trash will end up in our oceans.”
Why is ending plastic pollution so important to you?
Carter: “I feel like ending plastic pollution is very important because this is the mess that our parents and grandparents left for us. Do we really want our kids and even grand-kids to see this or something worse? I want the future generations to not have to deal with the problems we are dealing with today. If we don’t start now then our planet will just become even worse.”
Olivia: “Plastic pollution kills over 1 million seabirds every year and over 100,000 marine mammals every year. It affects the fish, that we eat, it affects the ocean’s cleanliness, and it affects the air we breathe through the chemicals used to produce it. We know that we care about animals and the environment, and one of the biggest issues that they are facing is plastic pollution. We see it everywhere, and it has become a problem that is almost too big for anyone to fix. That is why we started when we did, because we knew that if we had waited any longer, we might not have had a chance to fix the mistake.”
What is the #1 plastic pollution fact you want everyone to know?
Over 500 million plastic straws are used in America every single day. That is 1.6 straws for every man, woman, and child in this country. Just to think that there will be so much pollution in our lifetime is just sick.
What would you like the planet to look like when you are both grownups?
Carter: “I don’t have a clear picture of what I would like the planet to look like when I grow up, but I would like to see a world without plastic, a world where the youth are the voices, where we can all work together in making this a better, safer, plastic-free world.”
Olivia: “If we could get the planet to be more plastic-free, where we do not see plastic trash floating everywhere, around every corner, and in all of our waterways, then I feel that we have made a difference. That is our main goal. That is what we are trying to accomplish, where all of the animals and the environment is clean and safe for future generations and beyond.”
How can readers help you in your efforts?
Readers can go to our website, sign our One Less Straw pledge, or get in touch directly by emailing us at [email protected] or [email protected]. Remember that anybody can make a difference….. If we can, you can too!
