Help Rikki Fight Plastic Pollution in our Ocean!
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AN OCEAN OF GARBAGE: THE ALL FEMALE VOYAGE TO BATTLE THE EARTH's PLASTIC CRISIS:
"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot. Nothing is going to get better, its simply not." The Lorax
Plastic pollution has emerged as one of the greatest threats to ocean health. To combat this crisis will take all of us- united together- to be a part of the solution. It will not be easy, the obstacles are immense, but we can and we will turn this ship around, and make a difference. To do this, I'm asking your help.
I’m thrilled to have been selected to join an all-women's Exxpedition that will help raise awareness about plastic pollution. This voyage brings together women scientists, artists, educators, and media experts to identify ways to empower local communities, shift consumer choices, ignite a social media and awareness campaign, and raise the alarm about the enormous long-term health impacts plastic has on our bodies. I have been asked to sail for three weeks across the Atlantic garbage patch from the Azores to the Caribbean, as a scientist and training and outreach specialist 70-foot schooner.
HERE"S HOW YOU CAN HELP: First, I will be creating and sharing social media posts and articles along the journey. I encourage you to amplify this messaging with your friends, family and news outlets to spread the word. Secondly, should you choose to contribute financial support, your funds will directly go towards:
1) Work with local organizations on ways to deal with plastic pollution, particularly targeting young women to take action and raise their voice to demand change.
2) Craft local education and outreach campaigns tailored to the island nations we visit to demand policies that curb plastic waste and amplify a global digital and social media campaign for women to elevate the conversation about female health.
3) Give talks and film screenings at local schools, conferences, universities and global companies about our findings and solutions.
Finally, look here to see how to do your part every single day ! One step at a time, together we can make a difference.
WHY ME WHY NOW: I hope you join me in this lifelong passion for protecting our planet. While I love the idea of settling Mars someday, I think Earth deserves our best shot,and the ocean is in dire need of attention.
I am absolutely honored to have been selected for this opportunity, coming at a time after much personal loss and change this past year. I promise to work hard on your behalf, and fight the good fight. I promise to share the good, the bad and the not so glamorous with you in images, blogs, and stories along the way, with tangible ways for you to take action and raise awareness across the globe.
NOT SO FUN TRASH FACTS:
Everyone alive today carries within her or his body at least 700 contaminants. Wherever you live in the world you have been exposed to a cocktail of chemicals.
In the ocean, there are 51 trillion microscopic pieces of plastic, weighing 269,000 tons- about the same as 1345 adult blue whales. That's 500 times the number of stars in our galaxy.
By 2050 there will be more plastic in the oceans than there are fish.
Every minute, one garbage truck of plastic is dumped into our ocean.
Substances from plastic may also cross from a pregnant woman’s body into her fetus, potentially changing the way a baby develops.
It's this last reason that really shook me. It reminded me of one of those dystopian films about the future! Endocrine disruptors - hormone-altering chemicals- decrease fertility and increases development disorders during pregnancy. We are literally threatening our very own existence.
"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot. Nothing is going to get better, its simply not." The Lorax
Plastic pollution has emerged as one of the greatest threats to ocean health. To combat this crisis will take all of us- united together- to be a part of the solution. It will not be easy, the obstacles are immense, but we can and we will turn this ship around, and make a difference. To do this, I'm asking your help. I’m thrilled to have been selected to join an all-women's Exxpedition that will help raise awareness about plastic pollution. This voyage brings together women scientists, artists, educators, and media experts to identify ways to empower local communities, shift consumer choices, ignite a social media and awareness campaign, and raise the alarm about the enormous long-term health impacts plastic has on our bodies. I have been asked to sail for three weeks across the Atlantic garbage patch from the Azores to the Caribbean, as a scientist and training and outreach specialist 70-foot schooner.
HERE"S HOW YOU CAN HELP: First, I will be creating and sharing social media posts and articles along the journey. I encourage you to amplify this messaging with your friends, family and news outlets to spread the word. Secondly, should you choose to contribute financial support, your funds will directly go towards:
1) Work with local organizations on ways to deal with plastic pollution, particularly targeting young women to take action and raise their voice to demand change.
2) Craft local education and outreach campaigns tailored to the island nations we visit to demand policies that curb plastic waste and amplify a global digital and social media campaign for women to elevate the conversation about female health.
3) Give talks and film screenings at local schools, conferences, universities and global companies about our findings and solutions.
Finally, look here to see how to do your part every single day ! One step at a time, together we can make a difference.
WHY ME WHY NOW: I hope you join me in this lifelong passion for protecting our planet. While I love the idea of settling Mars someday, I think Earth deserves our best shot,and the ocean is in dire need of attention.
I am absolutely honored to have been selected for this opportunity, coming at a time after much personal loss and change this past year. I promise to work hard on your behalf, and fight the good fight. I promise to share the good, the bad and the not so glamorous with you in images, blogs, and stories along the way, with tangible ways for you to take action and raise awareness across the globe.
NOT SO FUN TRASH FACTS:
Everyone alive today carries within her or his body at least 700 contaminants. Wherever you live in the world you have been exposed to a cocktail of chemicals.
In the ocean, there are 51 trillion microscopic pieces of plastic, weighing 269,000 tons- about the same as 1345 adult blue whales. That's 500 times the number of stars in our galaxy.
By 2050 there will be more plastic in the oceans than there are fish.
Every minute, one garbage truck of plastic is dumped into our ocean.
Substances from plastic may also cross from a pregnant woman’s body into her fetus, potentially changing the way a baby develops.
It's this last reason that really shook me. It reminded me of one of those dystopian films about the future! Endocrine disruptors - hormone-altering chemicals- decrease fertility and increases development disorders during pregnancy. We are literally threatening our very own existence.
Organizer
Rikki Grober Eriksen
Organizer
Santa Cruz, CA