The ocean is our life support system on Earth. For centuries, it has played a critical role in the survival of both humans and wildlife. This World Oceans Day allows us all to raise awareness of this important natural resource and highlight ways we can all contribute to its survival. Let’s begin by looking at some of the benefits we derive from our oceans:
Climate regulation: Covering 70 per cent of the Earth's surface, the ocean transports heat from the equator to the poles, regulating our climate and weather patterns.
Transportation: Globally, shipping industries have benefited from cargo transportation through the seas.
Recreation: The ocean provides many unique activities, from fishing to boating to kayaking and whale watching.
Economic benefits: The U.S. ocean economy produces $282 billion in goods and services, and ocean-dependent businesses employ almost three million people.
Food: The ocean provides seafood to families across the world
Medicine: Many medicinal products come from the ocean, including ingredients that help fight cancer, arthritis, Alzheimer's, and heart disease.
This year, we’re being called to action to protect our oceans. World Oceans Day will be celebrated globally on 8th June. At Ocean Sole, we will be planting mangroves on our Kenyan coastlines, and we’ll also host beach cleans ups targeting popular turtle hatchling sites. We have partnered with the Leaf Charity, Beach Token, and Rock The Ocean.
Our partnership with Leaf Charity has seen us plant and restore 14,794 mangrove trees on the coast of Kenya. The LEAF Charity works with communities worldwide to protect habitats and promote reforestation. In addition to mangrove planting, we have hosted beach clean-ups at the coast with the LEAF charity.
The Beach Collective brings together climate-conscious consumers, planet-friendly brands and businesses and ocean conservation champions in a single ecosystem where every transaction funds ocean regeneration and climate action. We’re grateful for all the support from Beach Token that has made our beach cleans successful.
Rock The Ocean’s mission is to increase public awareness about the issues impacting the world’s oceans and to support scientific research, education and ocean conservation initiatives through benefit concerts, brand partnerships, and entertainment industry events. We’re thankful to Rock The Ocean for providing a platform where organisations like us can get support in our conservation efforts.
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This year, we collaborated with The Kenya Red Cross team to clean several beaches on Kenya’s coastline. The Kenya Red Cross works to facilitate communities to respond to humanitarian emergencies, alleviate human suffering and work with partners to implement innovative community-driven programs that transform lives and enhance community resilience.
We will be planting mangroves and cleaning beaches on the Kenyan coastlines to mark this day with the help of our partners and ocean mamas. The Kenya Red Cross have generously provided us with gloves for the clean and Friends of Nature have sponsored the mangrove planting with 2,500 seedlings.
As part of our education program, we will be joined by pupils from Bright Beginning School who get to learn practically the importance of conservation during the mangrove planting.
Would you like to be part of this year’s World Ocean Day events? You can participate by hosting a beach clean or by being a virtual volunteer. You might be wondering what it means to host a beach clean-up, right? Simply, a donation of 25$ will help remove 182 lbs of trash from the ocean. Your donation will go towards the following:
- Providing volunteers with a warm meal
- Providing volunteers with snacks & water
- Providing transportation for volunteers
- Purchasing supplies to plant mangrove trees
- Purchasing supplies to aid our beach clean efforts (gloves, eco-bags, etc.)
Thank you so much for your charitable donation!
At Ocean Sole, we are a registered non-profit, whose mission is to clean polluted beaches and provide careers to Artisans in high-impact communities.
With your help, we can increase our overall impact. Let's do some good together!
#WorldOceanDay2023
