SEVENSEAS Marine Conservation & Travel Issue 21, February 2017 | Page 138

Young Ocean Advocate Takes the Better Bag Challenge

My name is Isabelle. I am ten years old and I have loved dolphins since I was about five. Two years ago, my mom and I spent time looking for ways that I could help protect dolphins. We read a lot and finally found the World Oceans Day website, which had a lot of great information. There we found the Better Bag Challenge (http://www.worldoceansday.org/better-bag-challenge).

The Better Bag Challenge dares you to give up using plastic bags for one year to help protect the oceans. There is currently about eight million tons of trash that has been dumped into the oceans every year, according to National Geographic, and it is hurting and killing dolphins and other animals. I took the Better Bag Challenge on World Oceans Day, June 8, 2015. I took it again on June 8, 2016. On June 8, 2017 I will have saved about 7,000 plastic bags. The hardest part of giving up plastic bags was finding something else to put my lunch in. After a lot of research we found that stainless steel containers with plastic lids work best.

I am now working to help other kids and adults take the Better Bag Challenge too.

I recently had the opportunity to be the principal of my school for one day. I used that platform to give a speech in front of my whole school and challenged everyone to take the Better Bag Challenge too. I feel like I have made a difference these past few years and I want to do more.

For more information, please visit: http://www.worldoceansday.org/below-the-surface/young-ocean-advocate-takes-the-better-bag-challenge

Food containers photo: Isabelle uses stainless steel containers to pack lunch for school.

Isabelle speaking photo: Isabelle speaks to her classmates as “Head of School for a Day” about the Better Bag Challenge.

February 2017 - Ocean Literacy

SEVENSEAS

FOR YOUNG CONSERVATIONISTS

138 - SEVENSEAS

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