Sunday, April 30, 2017

The People's Climate March

Imagine a cadre of gray-haired women carrying this sign…



First, it was the Women's March and then, the March for Science and now, the People's Climate March. Thousands of people gathered on Saturday for, yet again!!!, another rallying cry for action. 

Via live-broadcast from Washington, DC we were able to watch the crowds, in the sweltering heat, drumming and shouting as they circled the White House.

A somewhat quieter but just as environmentally committed group of folks gathered at Falkirk Cultural Center for the closing party for the Living Oceans exhibition that included a 77th birthday party for celebrated marine artist George Sumner.

On this day, when people are thinking about how petrochemicals impact the planet, people were captivated as they watched the onslaught of plastic in the ocean via our SeaSpan TV.


And our Bottle Cascade is notably relevant — as an example of how the ocean currents serve as great conveyors cycling debris from all around the world. Single-use bottles and bottle caps are among the most common items found in the ocean waste stream. They come to our beaches, from our neighborhoods and from thousands of miles across the sea, connecting the world in swirls of single-use plastic. 

On Kehoe Beach in the Point Reyes National Seashore we find telltale product labels from Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, even Russian and Hindi. And our bottles from the San Francisco Bay end up on distant shores.



Special thanks to Margret Farley and the Cultural Affairs Service League for mounting Living Oceans, a timely exhibit that addressed the profound influence the ocean has on our lives; on climate change. Just remember, our planet is 30% earth, 70% water.