Saving and celebrating our oceans

Feb 27

Emma Chu on a whale-watching excursion with Youth to Sea in front of a buoy with resting sea lions.
Photo submitted by Emma Chu

By Patricia Lane & Emma Chu

These in-their-own-words pieces are told to Patricia Lane and co-edited with input from the interviewee for the purpose of brevity.

Emma Chu and her friend Anna Kovtunenko created Vancouver’s ORCA (Ocean conservation, Reform, Climate optimism, Action) Festival. The teenagers conceived, planned and hosted this event for two years, bringing sustainable small businesses together with environmental groups to strengthen relationships while educating the public about ocean conservation.

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We invite local businesses offering a sustainable product to occupy a table in a public space shared with small local environmental groups focused on ocean health. As they network and build connections with each other, passers-by browse, shop and learn.

Our second year was 2023 and the event keeps on growing. Businesses like Periwinkle Designs and Boostani crafts display their products, and local environmental groups like the Stanley Park Ecology Society and West Coast Environmental Law offer the public opportunities to become educated and engaged. Often, the businesses find ways to support the groups, which, in turn, help promote the businesses with their membership base. More than 350 members of the public stopped by to enjoy the opportunity to learn about sustainable consumer alternatives and learn about the work of the groups concerned about healthy oceans.

Peter Allan

Saving and celebrating our oceans

Tell us about your project.

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