Register/ Sign in to The Blue Ocean Business Summit and learn about what is damaging the ocean and how we can fix it! The Blue Ocean Business Summit is a free, virtual experience that streams online until June 19, 2015. The first few sessions include talks on solutions for the ocean, changing business models to become more sustainable, coral reefs and what exactly is affecting them, and how to provide outreach to those who aren’t aware of the everyday issues we encounter. It also includes the insights of the ocean from those who have spent over 50 years diving the vast expanses of diverse marine life. These talks feature many of our most fearless ocean leaders, including our very own Vicki Goldstein, Jean-Michel Cousteau, Dr. Sylvia Earle and many more. They offer up to an hour of how our oceans are being depleted, as well as innovative advice on how to reduce the detriment the oceans are experiencing. Vicki offers an interview discussing one of her new collective initiatives, Blue the Dive, and how the efforts for this program will in turn help save our marvelous blue waters. An inland movement is a very important movement, as many who live mountainside only see the pristine wilderness around them. What most do not realize is that what we deposit in our waterways high up in the mountains of Colorado will eventually find its way to our coastal waterways, and therefore the ocean. Fortunately, Boulder is a rather advanced and environmentally aware location, although outreach needs to be provided for those who are unlike the Boulder area. Many of us who enjoy our log homes on the top of hills also love to explore the cold, salty water that is ever so slightly drawing us to move away from our pristine environments. In order to continue to reach new depths on our dives, we need to be aware of how our daily lives are affecting areas further away than we expected. With that said, Vicki discusses her newest collaborative initiative, Blue the Dive, and how the outreach that this effort provides will spread throughout the diving community.
Blue the Dive is a collaborative effort within the diving community to provide education and outreach on sustainable ways to dive. The main idea of Blue the Dive is for dive shops and dive instructors to sign the pledge, which states the following, as provided by bluethedive.org:
- Improve dive industry sustainability and conservation practices
- Create a more informed and educated consumer to improve the way our communities interact with the ocean
- Improve dive industry manufacturing and supply chain sustainability business practices to reduce waste and increase efficiencies and profits
- Support scientific research and actions that protect our ocean resources
Ways that these goals can be reached include, and are not limited to:
- Stay in an eco-friendly hotel if scuba diving further from home
- Volunteer to dive and help an organization with research- (Reef Environmental Education Foundation offers fish survey and lionfish research trips for scuba divers)
- Don’t feed the organisms in the water
- Dispose of trash found in water properly
- Reduce your single use plastic
Talk to your local dive shop about what “blue-ing” the dive means to them, and how they can partake in this headstrong initiative! Take this short survey here to let us know!
Also looking to get a little more inspiration? Read this blog from the initiative, Ban the Bottle, to learn how you can help keep our oceans safe, and celebrate World Oceans Month!
