How to Save the Swell
What do we love? Skating. What do we love even more? Skating for a cause.
Last year, around this time, wildlife artist Wyland and shoe company Vans teamed up to help ocean wildlife. If you are a Southern California Resident, you would be hard pressed to convince me you have never heard of Wyland, or at least come into contact with his work in some way or another. He is engrained in the culture because he is so engrained in the community in addition to being an outspoken advocate for ocean health and marine conservation.
Those of us 'avid beach goers' with pervasive sand in the car floor mats, and the smell of salt in our hair know a thing or two about how the ocean has been changing, wether you have heard about it, or seen it with your own eyes (kind of like Wyland art). It is a problem worth approaching through every angle, and I bet you didn't know (and neither did I to be honest) that skating could be a part of the solution. Companies, like artists have a voice, but it is nowhere near as large as voice we have as consumers, through our power of choice: reusable bags, skipping the straw, mindful consumption are all part of the game. Swell Skateboards (similarly to Vans) has taken a stance on marine conservation, and through skating you can choose to stand with us.
I am a firm believer that every person has something unique to bring to the table, wether it be art, or a brand platform, or an interest in reading blogs like this to find out more about issues. I feel like we are all keys to different pieces of the problem. I also know that immersing yourself into a new cause can be overwhelming. Thats why I personally follow an 'effort where you can' mentality. I have a busy life that doesn't allow me to go to the beach every morning and clear the sand of every scrap of trash, but I do bring a bag with me and pick it up on my morning run to keep it from getting to the ocean. I might not be able to personally reverse climate change, but all of those conservation one-liners you've heard about conserving water, moderating electricity consumption, and carpooling (maybe not during a global pandemic) really do make a difference. Teach your kids about the ocean. Even better, show your kids the ocean and they will teach themselves to appreciate all it has to offer. Take an extra moment in the grocery store to figure out where your seafood comes from, and skip the mylar balloons for graduation celebrations. Ocean conservation is not about feeling the weight of saving the ocean on your shoulders, but is about staying vigilant and doing what you can when you can and encouraging others to do the same.
Proceeds from every purchase go to the 'Save The Swell' Foundation which aims to support scientific endeavors and management projects aiming to find solutions to the problems facing our oceans. So skate on, and be proud to be an ocean advocate while you're at it.
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