It Takes a Village to Protect the Ocean

1
00:00:00,229 --> 00:00:03,991
Protecting the ocean through a community is probably one of the best ways

2
00:00:04,071 --> 00:00:07,192
to feel not only a part of something bigger, but to

3
00:00:07,272 --> 00:00:11,073
really tackle the large overwhelming task

4
00:00:11,394 --> 00:00:14,895
of protecting the ocean. We're going to talk about the benefits of joining

5
00:00:15,055 --> 00:00:18,636
a community on today's episode of the How to Protect the Ocean podcast.

6
00:00:19,017 --> 00:00:23,985
Let's start the show. Hey

7
00:00:24,025 --> 00:00:27,366
everybody, welcome back to another exciting episode of the How to Protect the Ocean podcast.

8
00:00:27,426 --> 00:00:30,647
I'm your host Andrew Luan. This is the podcast where you find out what's happening with the ocean,

9
00:00:30,947 --> 00:00:34,308
how you can speak up for the ocean, and what you can do to live for

10
00:00:34,368 --> 00:00:37,469
a better ocean by taking action. And on

11
00:00:37,489 --> 00:00:41,050
today's episode, we're going to be talking about the importance of a community. And

12
00:00:41,070 --> 00:00:44,712
that could be a local community, that could be an online community, that could be many different ways

13
00:00:44,752 --> 00:00:48,154
that you define a community. But

14
00:00:48,194 --> 00:00:51,878
the idea of it is that you are a part of something bigger.

15
00:00:51,898 --> 00:00:56,122
We talk a lot about tackling climate change, overfishing,

16
00:00:56,142 --> 00:00:59,766
and plastic pollution. These are all very large problems

17
00:00:59,886 --> 00:01:03,650
and they are complex. It requires not only you as an individual to

18
00:01:03,690 --> 00:01:07,031
take part in protecting the ocean by living for a better ocean, but you

19
00:01:07,211 --> 00:01:10,973
also have to be part of a community because we need to do this as

20
00:01:11,173 --> 00:01:14,654
a community. So if you're passionate about protecting the ocean, you might

21
00:01:14,854 --> 00:01:18,235
sometimes feel like you're on this journey by yourself. You're

22
00:01:18,255 --> 00:01:21,976
on this journey alone. But here's the thing, being a part of a community can

23
00:01:22,036 --> 00:01:25,217
be one of the most effective and inspiring ways to make a

24
00:01:25,297 --> 00:01:28,759
real impact. Today, I want to dive into why community matters and

25
00:01:28,839 --> 00:01:32,020
how it can guide you on how you can find a tribe in

26
00:01:32,040 --> 00:01:35,241
the ocean conservation world. world. So let's start first with the

27
00:01:35,301 --> 00:01:38,742
simple truth. Protecting the ocean is hard. It's a massive task.

28
00:01:39,002 --> 00:01:42,523
If you can feel so overwhelming, whether it's tackling

29
00:01:42,543 --> 00:01:45,664
issues like plastic pollution, climate change, or overfishing, just like

30
00:01:45,724 --> 00:01:49,005
I mentioned, the problems are global and you might

31
00:01:49,085 --> 00:01:52,606
wonder what difference can one person. That's where

32
00:01:52,646 --> 00:01:56,529
community comes in. When you're a part of a group with like-minded people, suddenly,

33
00:01:56,870 --> 00:02:00,694
you're not alone anymore. You're not tackling this by yourself. You're

34
00:02:00,734 --> 00:02:04,879
surrounded by others who share your passion, your concerns, your

35
00:02:04,919 --> 00:02:08,262
drive to make a difference. And here's why community matters.

36
00:02:09,043 --> 00:02:12,345
One, you can have shared knowledge. When you're part of a community, you

37
00:02:12,385 --> 00:02:15,948
gain access to wealth of knowledge and resources. Maybe

38
00:02:16,008 --> 00:02:19,510
someone knows the best way to organize a beach cleanup or

39
00:02:19,590 --> 00:02:23,012
how to navigate local government policies to protect marine areas.

40
00:02:23,373 --> 00:02:26,735
Learning from others makes you more effective. Here's

41
00:02:26,775 --> 00:02:29,977
a little story, Brown. I remember speaking to Emily Cunningham on

42
00:02:30,017 --> 00:02:33,219
this podcast, and she discussed how she has worked with

43
00:02:33,379 --> 00:02:37,142
local council people in her area in the UK to

44
00:02:37,222 --> 00:02:41,424
get things going. She built the relationships with

45
00:02:41,544 --> 00:02:44,685
the local council. She's the one who talked to each one

46
00:02:44,705 --> 00:02:48,027
of the council members. She's the one who got their values and

47
00:02:48,067 --> 00:02:51,748
then discussed her values around the same subject. She's

48
00:02:51,788 --> 00:02:55,569
the one who helped bring people together from her community to

49
00:02:55,649 --> 00:02:58,931
help drive further. These are the ways that you can

50
00:02:59,032 --> 00:03:02,174
learn from people through their mistakes, through their challenges, through their

51
00:03:02,214 --> 00:03:05,437
successes, so that you can do the same thing in your

52
00:03:05,497 --> 00:03:08,659
local area. So not only will it inspire you by watching other people do

53
00:03:08,719 --> 00:03:11,942
it, but they can help you with the menial task of

54
00:03:12,002 --> 00:03:15,544
getting around certain things. Like how to get a hold of a council person.

55
00:03:15,665 --> 00:03:19,007
How do you discuss that? How do you approach them without saying, I

56
00:03:19,087 --> 00:03:22,150
demand this, I want this, I voted for you, work for me. No, you

57
00:03:22,810 --> 00:03:26,412
don't do it that way. There are ways to approach somebody

58
00:03:26,692 --> 00:03:30,094
and build that relationship with that counsel person. That's what really

59
00:03:30,154 --> 00:03:33,495
matters. To be able to have that knowledge and share

60
00:03:33,535 --> 00:03:36,857
that within a group, whether you have it or other people have it, you can learn from

61
00:03:36,897 --> 00:03:40,258
that and you can be more effective as an ocean advocate. So

62
00:03:40,279 --> 00:03:43,560
that was the first one. That was shared knowledge. So

63
00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:46,922
the second one is accountability and motivation. So let's face it,

64
00:03:47,182 --> 00:03:50,483
it's easy to feel discouraged when change feels slow. But being

65
00:03:50,503 --> 00:03:53,846
a part of a group keeps you accountable. When others are working

66
00:03:53,886 --> 00:03:57,909
alongside you, it's harder to give up. So just imagine you

67
00:03:57,929 --> 00:04:01,211
have all these tasks that you want to take. Let's start

68
00:04:01,331 --> 00:04:04,554
with one. And you have an accountability partner. I remember as part

69
00:04:04,574 --> 00:04:08,076
of a podcast group online. And some of the ways that you can help make

70
00:04:08,136 --> 00:04:11,737
sure that you hold yourself accountable and you do the tasks of the course that they

71
00:04:11,797 --> 00:04:15,438
gave me and the coaching that they gave me was I had an accountability partner. You

72
00:04:15,458 --> 00:04:19,159
can choose that accountability partner and you hold each other accountable

73
00:04:19,499 --> 00:04:22,720
to make sure you get things going. So if I suddenly, you know, I don't feel that

74
00:04:22,760 --> 00:04:26,181
well that week and my accountability partner is like, you can get these things

75
00:04:26,241 --> 00:04:29,502
done. at least get the minimal stuff done so that you feel good

76
00:04:29,522 --> 00:04:33,303
about yourself by the end of the week. And you get it done, and it moves you that much closer

77
00:04:33,363 --> 00:04:37,004
towards your goal. Imagine doing the same thing for oceans. Seeing

78
00:04:37,145 --> 00:04:40,386
other people's wins based on accountability, big or small, can

79
00:04:40,426 --> 00:04:43,907
inspire you to keep going. So it helps with the accountability and

80
00:04:43,947 --> 00:04:47,788
the motivation. The third thing is amplifying your voice by

81
00:04:47,848 --> 00:04:51,229
being part of a community. So a community can amplify your

82
00:04:51,349 --> 00:04:54,550
impact. One person signing a petition, that might not

83
00:04:54,610 --> 00:04:58,731
change the law, but hundreds of voices, holy cow, that changes everything.

84
00:04:58,911 --> 00:05:02,592
That's a movement. And an example of that is when I spoke to Dr.

85
00:05:02,632 --> 00:05:06,174
Chad Nelson, the CEO of Surfrider. He said that there was one

86
00:05:06,234 --> 00:05:09,455
spot during his tenure where, and

87
00:05:09,475 --> 00:05:13,035
it was pretty recent, where the council people

88
00:05:13,256 --> 00:05:16,636
in one area were going to change something

89
00:05:16,676 --> 00:05:19,817
that would change the access or even change a beach, a

90
00:05:19,837 --> 00:05:23,058
very popular surf spot for his organization, Surf Riders. That

91
00:05:23,098 --> 00:05:26,498
was a problem. They were worried that they were going to lose out. It already got

92
00:05:26,578 --> 00:05:29,759
stamped in. The developers were ready to go. It was going to be a

93
00:05:29,979 --> 00:05:33,460
done deal. And then Surf Rider jumped in. They access their

94
00:05:33,560 --> 00:05:37,241
community. It was a community of volunteers, their network of volunteers,

95
00:05:37,261 --> 00:05:40,723
and they said, Hey, there is a public meeting that

96
00:05:40,763 --> 00:05:44,064
is happening at this place at this time. We need you

97
00:05:44,104 --> 00:05:47,506
to show up because right now they think that they have the deal

98
00:05:47,566 --> 00:05:51,068
done and our surfing spot is going to be affected. But

99
00:05:51,108 --> 00:05:54,350
if you show up like we ask you to do and like what we want

100
00:05:54,390 --> 00:05:57,551
you to do, we want us as a community to do. You can show up and

101
00:05:57,631 --> 00:06:01,033
protect that surf spot. They had to change the location three times

102
00:06:01,313 --> 00:06:04,914
to get a bigger venue. 500 people from Surfrider, in

103
00:06:04,954 --> 00:06:08,375
that network of volunteers, who are not only surfers, but

104
00:06:08,415 --> 00:06:11,616
they're beach advocates, and they're just ocean advocates, and they want

105
00:06:11,636 --> 00:06:14,817
to see this stay natural. They came out and they said

106
00:06:14,857 --> 00:06:18,178
to the developers, no, we don't want this. This is why. Here are our stories. You

107
00:06:18,198 --> 00:06:21,800
need to listen to us. That development never went through. The power

108
00:06:21,960 --> 00:06:25,223
of people, the power of amplifying one person's voice by

109
00:06:25,323 --> 00:06:28,987
showing up as a community, a community of individuals who share

110
00:06:29,007 --> 00:06:32,330
the same passion, that is protecting the ocean, will help

111
00:06:32,410 --> 00:06:35,933
you and get things done. Whether it's a local community or

112
00:06:36,013 --> 00:06:39,376
an online community, it does not matter. You can amplify your voice.

113
00:06:39,777 --> 00:06:43,039
A community gives you strength in numbers, whether it's

114
00:06:43,200 --> 00:06:47,203
advocating for policies or raising awareness. And I've

115
00:06:47,304 --> 00:06:50,547
seen this, I've heard the stories from the people who've come on

116
00:06:50,587 --> 00:06:53,770
this podcast, from other people who haven't been guests yet, but

117
00:06:53,870 --> 00:06:57,294
one day, one day will. But they've just, they've talked about these stories. I've

118
00:06:57,394 --> 00:07:01,058
seen it firsthand. Let's think about it. Greta

119
00:07:01,098 --> 00:07:04,481
Thunberg was one student who did a climate

120
00:07:04,521 --> 00:07:08,083
strike every Friday in Sweden. How many of

121
00:07:08,163 --> 00:07:11,666
us knew or predicted that that one strike, that

122
00:07:11,726 --> 00:07:14,988
climate strike, would turn into a movement of hundreds of

123
00:07:15,088 --> 00:07:18,731
thousands, if not millions of people around the world, striking on

124
00:07:18,791 --> 00:07:22,213
Fridays for a while because they wanted more climate action.

125
00:07:22,253 --> 00:07:25,715
They want to tell their government, not only in Sweden, but in the UK,

126
00:07:25,895 --> 00:07:29,538
in Canada, in New Zealand, in Australia, in India, everywhere,

127
00:07:29,898 --> 00:07:33,119
right, where they could protest in South America, they would do that.

128
00:07:33,459 --> 00:07:36,700
They would have a strike. They would walk hundreds of thousands of people in each

129
00:07:36,760 --> 00:07:39,961
city, in each area, and they would walk for climate. That's how great

130
00:07:39,981 --> 00:07:43,342
it was. There was one person I know who walked on a plane, because at the same time

131
00:07:43,382 --> 00:07:46,522
that the protest was happening, he was on a plane. He had a sign, and he walked up

132
00:07:46,562 --> 00:07:50,103
and down the aisle and said, hey, I'm on a climate strike. I want climate action.

133
00:07:50,463 --> 00:07:53,825
That's the power of numbers. that's what it gives

134
00:07:53,845 --> 00:07:57,050
it and it's just it's amazing how much work has been

135
00:07:57,250 --> 00:08:00,575
done by governments because of those strikes

136
00:08:00,635 --> 00:08:03,980
because of those movements whether it's a local government

137
00:08:04,020 --> 00:08:07,525
a state government or provincial wherever you're from or federal government

138
00:08:08,663 --> 00:08:12,084
The tune of climate change, that term has gone from

139
00:08:12,204 --> 00:08:15,426
denial to figuring out what the action might be. Now,

140
00:08:15,446 --> 00:08:18,707
let's be honest, we may not agree on every action, every country is

141
00:08:18,747 --> 00:08:22,008
different, but we know action needs to be taken. It's

142
00:08:22,028 --> 00:08:25,209
just a matter of how fast and how much will

143
00:08:25,229 --> 00:08:28,450
be done, right? That's the big problem with governments right now,

144
00:08:28,631 --> 00:08:32,372
but it's being done because of that movement. People shared ideas, whether

145
00:08:32,392 --> 00:08:35,613
it be one person, two people or a community, organized events and

146
00:08:35,653 --> 00:08:38,874
support each other when the going got tough. Let's be honest,

147
00:08:39,235 --> 00:08:42,837
Greta Thunberg did not have an easy life going through this. She was

148
00:08:43,877 --> 00:08:47,339
mocked, she was insulted, she

149
00:08:47,419 --> 00:08:50,601
was yelled at, and she was all a teenager while doing this.

150
00:08:50,941 --> 00:08:54,523
That's a very difficult life to go through. But she had one thing,

151
00:08:54,583 --> 00:08:57,985
she wanted climate action. She wanted to inspire. She turned from doing

152
00:08:58,005 --> 00:09:01,067
it herself as an individual to inspiring hundreds of thousands, if

153
00:09:01,107 --> 00:09:04,329
not millions of people to doing it, to taking those strikes, to taking that

154
00:09:04,449 --> 00:09:07,932
action to say, hey, you know what? If a 16-year-old could tell

155
00:09:07,992 --> 00:09:11,415
a prime minister, a president, they're not doing enough, and get angry at

156
00:09:11,475 --> 00:09:14,617
them, we could do the same thing. We can tell each and every one of our

157
00:09:14,697 --> 00:09:18,480
members of parliament, our members of Congress, or whoever they

158
00:09:18,661 --> 00:09:21,943
are, the people who represent you as a government, to say,

159
00:09:22,063 --> 00:09:25,306
you are not doing enough, we want you to do more. And it's about doing it

160
00:09:25,406 --> 00:09:28,489
in a group, because one person's not going to change their mind. If

161
00:09:28,529 --> 00:09:31,611
you're in a democracy, it's the power of the popular vote, the

162
00:09:31,651 --> 00:09:34,754
power of the majority. Right? If we can get the

163
00:09:34,794 --> 00:09:38,195
majority to say that we need ocean conservation, we need climate

164
00:09:38,255 --> 00:09:41,857
action, we need to reduce overfishing and eliminate overfishing,

165
00:09:41,917 --> 00:09:45,439
we need to eliminate and reduce plastic pollution, that's

166
00:09:45,459 --> 00:09:48,694
how you do it. It's not just what you

167
00:09:48,714 --> 00:09:51,856
can do for the community. It's what you can bring to the

168
00:09:51,916 --> 00:09:55,199
table. When you join a community, whether it be on Facebook, whether

169
00:09:55,239 --> 00:09:58,562
it be on a WhatsApp group, or a Slack group, or whatever

170
00:09:58,602 --> 00:10:01,765
that might be, don't just join it for the sake of

171
00:10:01,805 --> 00:10:04,907
joining it. Join it with a purpose. Join it because a

172
00:10:05,368 --> 00:10:08,670
community matters to you. You wanna bring value to

173
00:10:08,710 --> 00:10:11,893
the community as much as you wanna get the value out of that community. You've probably

174
00:10:11,913 --> 00:10:15,096
heard that before in anything that you've talked about. You get what you

175
00:10:15,176 --> 00:10:18,719
put into it. And so you can do that with the community. For

176
00:10:18,779 --> 00:10:22,042
example, I work out at CrossFit. I'm

177
00:10:22,082 --> 00:10:25,105
horrible at it, but I enjoy it. I really enjoy working as a

178
00:10:25,145 --> 00:10:28,347
community. And going to a gym, community matters. Who I

179
00:10:28,407 --> 00:10:31,750
work out with are the people that motivate me to come each and every day, right?

180
00:10:31,790 --> 00:10:35,013
That I go work out. I don't work out every day. That would be killer for me. But I

181
00:10:35,033 --> 00:10:38,456
go, every time I go, I look forward to seeing the people, I look forward to working

182
00:10:38,476 --> 00:10:41,999
out with people that will push me, that will motivate me, that I can somewhat

183
00:10:42,099 --> 00:10:45,221
compete with. Don't tell them I'm competing, but I always look at what they do and it

184
00:10:45,301 --> 00:10:48,404
kind of drives me, right? But the value that I bring is I

185
00:10:48,764 --> 00:10:51,947
encourage other people, I support other people, whether they're better than me or

186
00:10:51,967 --> 00:10:55,149
they're not as good as me or whatever, we finish first or finish last, it

187
00:10:55,189 --> 00:10:58,291
doesn't matter, I support everybody. I'm cheering people on

188
00:10:58,352 --> 00:11:01,635
as I'm working out, if I have a breath. You know, I'm after, you

189
00:11:01,675 --> 00:11:04,939
know, we were done. We all give each other, you know, knuckles and be like, hey,

190
00:11:04,959 --> 00:11:08,624
good job. Good job. That's how we build that community. But

191
00:11:08,664 --> 00:11:12,245
at one point I lost my community. The gym that I

192
00:11:12,285 --> 00:11:15,566
was a part of, it shut down for whatever reason. We moved over to

193
00:11:15,606 --> 00:11:18,827
another gym. It was a different gym. We tried our best to make it

194
00:11:18,947 --> 00:11:22,288
like the community that we had before, because we had a really good community at the original gym.

195
00:11:22,648 --> 00:11:25,749
And we just couldn't feel it there. We just couldn't feel it. And

196
00:11:25,769 --> 00:11:29,390
I don't know if it was just the abruptness of the move, or we moved to a larger gym,

197
00:11:29,450 --> 00:11:32,591
so it was a larger community. We just couldn't find our place. But I

198
00:11:32,631 --> 00:11:35,972
had a crew of people who worked out at 6 o'clock

199
00:11:36,012 --> 00:11:39,173
in the morning. And that's a special crew. Not everybody can work out at

200
00:11:39,413 --> 00:11:42,776
6 o'clock in the morning. But we were all in the same age group and we all had

201
00:11:42,896 --> 00:11:46,179
kids and we were all trying to go through the same challenges and

202
00:11:46,199 --> 00:11:49,563
successes in life and that kind of stuff. We had a really good French group.

203
00:11:49,603 --> 00:11:53,047
We would hang out afterwards and at

204
00:11:53,107 --> 00:11:56,270
night and stuff like that. It was fun. But then at that group, at

205
00:11:56,290 --> 00:11:59,734
that gym, we just didn't have that community feel. We weren't happy there.

206
00:12:00,134 --> 00:12:03,198
And we eventually went back to the place where our

207
00:12:03,238 --> 00:12:06,682
original gym was, but it was a different name gym, run differently by

208
00:12:06,702 --> 00:12:09,965
a different person. And we said to ourselves when we went over there, there was like three

209
00:12:09,985 --> 00:12:13,369
or four that went over there, we said, look, we're not gonna have the same dynamic and

210
00:12:13,389 --> 00:12:16,572
the same people as we always did. But what we could do is when

211
00:12:16,592 --> 00:12:20,054
we get there is we can put in more effort than we did at last gym to

212
00:12:20,094 --> 00:12:23,216
make it a community. And let's make the community, if we wanted to make it a

213
00:12:23,296 --> 00:12:26,478
certain way, let's bring in the value that we can

214
00:12:26,538 --> 00:12:30,060
provide to bring in that community. Always be friendly, always

215
00:12:30,100 --> 00:12:33,362
walk up to people, ask how people are, ask about their lives and all that

216
00:12:33,402 --> 00:12:36,804
kind of stuff. As much as they want to share, let's get that out and let's make

217
00:12:36,844 --> 00:12:40,026
them feel welcome when we're there. so that they feel like

218
00:12:40,086 --> 00:12:43,329
it's the same community that we want it to be. That's the same

219
00:12:43,369 --> 00:12:46,612
thing you want to do in an online community. I know online and

220
00:12:46,672 --> 00:12:49,956
local communities, like everybody's abrasive and everybody argues with each

221
00:12:50,016 --> 00:12:53,519
other. You don't have to argue, right? You don't have to be abrasive

222
00:12:53,539 --> 00:12:57,063
with somebody. You can support. Man, what an idea. Imagine

223
00:12:57,103 --> 00:13:00,365
going into an online group and you support people. right you help them

224
00:13:00,465 --> 00:13:03,887
out or you say good job hey that really inspires me

225
00:13:03,927 --> 00:13:07,468
to do something I don't know what can you help me out right and people will be

226
00:13:07,808 --> 00:13:11,189
thoughtful people will be happy and I think that's the

227
00:13:11,289 --> 00:13:14,550
key right so the question is like now I've made a case

228
00:13:14,590 --> 00:13:18,253
like hey let's be part of a community. Government

229
00:13:18,293 --> 00:13:21,856
right now in North America, probably not going to help. I'm not familiar

230
00:13:21,896 --> 00:13:25,439
too much with Mexican government, but I know U.S. and

231
00:13:25,479 --> 00:13:28,722
Canada, we see it all the time. The next administration for the U.S. not going to be

232
00:13:28,762 --> 00:13:31,985
a help for environment. The next administration for the next

233
00:13:32,005 --> 00:13:35,208
government for Canada in a year or so, probably not going

234
00:13:35,228 --> 00:13:38,515
to be helpful for the environment. The community is going to be

235
00:13:38,555 --> 00:13:41,858
the place where you need to be. So how do you find your

236
00:13:41,978 --> 00:13:45,481
ocean conservation community? Especially if you live inland, right?

237
00:13:45,521 --> 00:13:48,724
Like there's not an ocean around, you may not have that. But the first thing

238
00:13:48,764 --> 00:13:52,246
is you start local. Look for organizations, clubs, events near

239
00:13:52,286 --> 00:13:55,829
your area. Any kind of beach cleanups, educational programs,

240
00:13:55,849 --> 00:13:59,733
any volunteer opportunities are great places to meet like-minded

241
00:13:59,773 --> 00:14:02,836
people. So just start local, get out of the house, get out of

242
00:14:02,876 --> 00:14:06,320
your apartment, get out wherever you live, and start going into places where you

243
00:14:06,360 --> 00:14:09,784
look at like a surf ride or a Trout Unlimited or something local.

244
00:14:10,464 --> 00:14:13,568
And if they offer something where you can volunteer in person, say, hey, I

245
00:14:13,608 --> 00:14:16,691
want to volunteer in person. I want to meet other people, other volunteers. I'd be

246
00:14:16,731 --> 00:14:19,815
happy to work a certain amount of hours a week or a month, and I'd be

247
00:14:19,855 --> 00:14:23,178
happy to go out there. So that helps too. Go online. Social media

248
00:14:23,198 --> 00:14:26,881
and forums are full of groups focused on ocean conservation.

249
00:14:27,301 --> 00:14:31,244
So join Facebook groups, follow activists on Instagram, or

250
00:14:31,324 --> 00:14:34,647
participate in online discussions. When you participate, remember, you

251
00:14:34,687 --> 00:14:37,789
want to bring as much value as you want to get out of it, right? So

252
00:14:37,809 --> 00:14:41,011
if you have expertise or you have some kind of knowledge or experience, share that

253
00:14:41,051 --> 00:14:44,414
experience when it's necessary, right? And I'll talk about the online

254
00:14:44,454 --> 00:14:48,211
group in just a sec. Be proactive. Don't

255
00:14:48,351 --> 00:14:51,613
wait for the perfect opportunity to come to you. Reach out, ask

256
00:14:51,673 --> 00:14:55,035
questions, and put yourself out there. The ocean needs

257
00:14:55,075 --> 00:14:58,778
your voice. It is imperative that we provide value

258
00:14:58,898 --> 00:15:02,520
quickly, that we join groups that are effective quickly,

259
00:15:02,560 --> 00:15:05,662
and you must be able to recognize whether this group is going to be

260
00:15:05,702 --> 00:15:08,964
effective or they just want to argue all the time. There are a lot of Facebook groups

261
00:15:09,024 --> 00:15:12,125
out there that just argue all the time. There's like, they're dominated by

262
00:15:12,326 --> 00:15:15,387
one or two people around. You want to make sure that everybody has a

263
00:15:15,427 --> 00:15:18,508
voice. You want to make sure that maybe they meet online virtually or

264
00:15:18,628 --> 00:15:21,829
on a regular basis, or they, you know, they ask from you

265
00:15:21,949 --> 00:15:25,771
personally. Say, hey, what do you thought, what are your thoughts about this? Or provide content,

266
00:15:26,231 --> 00:15:29,372
you know, fairly regularly, right? I think it's really important. I

267
00:15:29,392 --> 00:15:32,894
think it's important that we were able to get our voices

268
00:15:32,974 --> 00:15:37,056
out there from everybody, listen, and then provide constructive

269
00:15:37,076 --> 00:15:40,377
feedback, but not just get involved in arguments. Here's

270
00:15:40,397 --> 00:15:43,658
the bottom line. Protecting the ocean is not something that you can do alone.

271
00:15:44,199 --> 00:15:47,520
It takes a community. None of us can do it alone. It takes a

272
00:15:47,580 --> 00:15:50,762
community, a network of people united by their love for the

273
00:15:50,862 --> 00:15:53,963
ocean and their determination to protect it. So when

274
00:15:53,983 --> 00:15:57,204
you find your community, you'll find more than just support, you'll

275
00:15:57,224 --> 00:16:00,464
find purpose, you'll find strength and inspiration to keep

276
00:16:00,604 --> 00:16:03,725
going, even when the challenges feel overwhelming. And I'm

277
00:16:03,745 --> 00:16:07,325
going to guarantee you the challenges are going to feel very overwhelming, but

278
00:16:07,385 --> 00:16:10,546
we can persist through those. If you're listening to this

279
00:16:10,606 --> 00:16:14,047
and you haven't found a community yet, I encourage you to

280
00:16:14,087 --> 00:16:17,247
start looking. And better yet, I've been talking about this for the

281
00:16:17,287 --> 00:16:20,948
last six months, and I've been talking about creating an online community

282
00:16:21,008 --> 00:16:24,750
myself. I've started Facebook communities before.

283
00:16:24,770 --> 00:16:27,853
I have one for marine science and conservation careers. I

284
00:16:27,913 --> 00:16:32,396
had one for Speak Up for Blue, like this podcast.

285
00:16:32,616 --> 00:16:35,859
But in reality, I've got another one brewing, and it's going

286
00:16:35,879 --> 00:16:39,302
to be released at the end of January. it's an online

287
00:16:39,342 --> 00:16:42,684
community where it's supportive where we're going to help

288
00:16:42,884 --> 00:16:46,446
guide you to become a better advocate

289
00:16:46,487 --> 00:16:49,709
for the ocean more knowledgeable on the ocean and be

290
00:16:49,769 --> 00:16:52,971
able to act to live for a better ocean by taking the

291
00:16:53,231 --> 00:16:56,694
actions that you need to take that could be purchasing products

292
00:16:56,714 --> 00:16:59,936
that could be doing services connecting with the ocean right being part

293
00:16:59,956 --> 00:17:03,378
of workshops being together as a community and

294
00:17:03,758 --> 00:17:06,900
interacting with each other. So if you are interested in

295
00:17:06,961 --> 00:17:10,423
being part of this community, we'll release the name and

296
00:17:10,443 --> 00:17:13,665
have other people involved as well. It's not just me, okay? It's this

297
00:17:13,765 --> 00:17:17,033
new venture that I'm a part of. I want you to

298
00:17:17,113 --> 00:17:25,001
go to www.speakupforblue.com forward

299
00:17:25,081 --> 00:17:28,324
slash community to sign up and be

300
00:17:28,384 --> 00:17:31,487
on the wait list for the first people to

301
00:17:31,547 --> 00:17:35,090
come in to this community. This is a chance for

302
00:17:35,110 --> 00:17:38,153
you to shape the community that you want to be in. This is a

303
00:17:38,193 --> 00:17:41,736
chance to be one of the first to be part of this community. This

304
00:17:41,776 --> 00:17:45,118
is a community that's not going to start and then just go away. It's going to be around for

305
00:17:45,158 --> 00:17:48,960
a very, very long time. It's going to be around to provide

306
00:17:49,120 --> 00:17:52,703
value, not only to you, but to everybody in the community, and

307
00:17:52,723 --> 00:17:56,205
to be able to allow opportunities to connect to the ocean,

308
00:17:56,305 --> 00:17:59,447
whether that be virtually or in person, and interact with

309
00:17:59,507 --> 00:18:02,649
people around you, whether that be virtually or in person. It's

310
00:18:02,689 --> 00:18:05,890
a lot of fun. I'm very excited about this new opportunity. It's free to

311
00:18:05,930 --> 00:18:09,192
sign up to get this access to this list. All

312
00:18:09,232 --> 00:18:13,653
you have to do is go to speakupforblue.com forward slash community.

313
00:18:14,013 --> 00:18:17,115
That's it for me today. I'm really excited about this. I'm going

314
00:18:17,135 --> 00:18:20,816
to have more information in the next coming weeks, but please

315
00:18:21,216 --> 00:18:24,597
sign up. Keep tuning into this episode. If you have any questions, you

316
00:18:24,617 --> 00:18:27,999
can DM me at how to protect the ocean on instagram that's

317
00:18:28,259 --> 00:18:31,761
at how to protect the ocean so just dm me on instagram and of course if

318
00:18:31,801 --> 00:18:35,243
you don't want to miss any other episode you can subscribe to our youtube

319
00:18:35,263 --> 00:18:38,745
channel hit that notification bell so you don't miss any of the monday wednesday

320
00:18:38,865 --> 00:18:42,487
and friday episodes and of course we're on spotify

321
00:18:42,527 --> 00:18:45,708
video we're on apple podcasts overcast all

322
00:18:45,748 --> 00:18:49,190
your favorite audio podcast apps were there as well I

323
00:18:49,210 --> 00:18:52,492
want to thank you so much for joining me on today's episode of the How to Protect the

324
00:18:52,532 --> 00:18:55,995
Ocean podcast. Let's start the new year off with a bang and join

325
00:18:56,015 --> 00:18:59,597
the community that will help you live for a better ocean. Thank

326
00:18:59,617 --> 00:19:02,739
you so much for listening. I'm your host Angelo and have a great day. We'll talk to you