June 8th marks World Oceans Day, an international celebration that recognizes the importance of our oceans.
The City of Nanaimo helped welcome the annual celebration with a greeting, prayer and song from Elder Lolly of Snuneymuxw First Nation.
The city put out a celebratory video regarding the day back in 2019 as well.
The city is promoting the initiative “to protect 30% of our blue planet by 2030.” The public is encouraged to help, and recommends the following:
- Avoid buying single-use plastics.
- Consider using reusable water bottles and shopping bags.
- Reduce the amount of microplastics that end up in the ocean by buying clothing made from natural fibres.
- Help keep our air clean.
- Only eat fish which are not endangered.
- Save water not waste water.
- Pick up litter where you find it – eventually everything flows down to the ocean.
- Find out more about how to organize a Shoreline Clean up in your Community
- Support other shoreline clean ups along our beautiful Vancouver Island Coastline organized by Rugged Coast Research Society.
Other resources include online education from the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup and the Salish Sea Marine Survival Project.
“Scientists believe 90% of the plastics in our oceans come from the rivers and lakes, all of which flow into our oceans. Each of us can stop the flow of plastics,” the World Oceans Day’s website states.
