Eye-Catching Designs Made from Recycled Plastic Bottles
The company sells a range of eco-friendly items like leggings, rash guards, and board shorts that are made using recycled post-consumer plastic bottles. There are currently 16 causes represented by distinct marine-life patterns, from whale shark research and invasive lionfish removal to sockeye salmon monitoring and abalone restoration.
One such organization is Get Inspired, a nonprofit that specializes in ocean restoration and environmental education. Get Inspired founder, marine biologist Nancy Caruso, says supporting on-the-ground efforts is one thing that sets Waterlust apart, like their apparel line that supports Get Inspired abalone restoration programs.
"All of us [conservation partners] are doing something," Caruso said. "We're not putting up exhibits and talking about it — although that is important — we're in the field."
Waterlust not only helps its conservation partners financially so they can continue their important work. It also helps them get the word out about what they're doing, whether that's through social media spotlights, photo and video projects, or the informative note card that comes with each piece of apparel.
"They're doing their part for sure, pushing the information out across all of their channels, and I think that's what makes them so interesting," Caruso said.
And then there are the clothes, which speak for themselves.
Advocate Apparel to Start Conversations About Conservation
Waterlust's concept of "advocate apparel" encourages people to see getting dressed every day as an opportunity to not only express their individuality and style, but also to advance the conversation around marine science. By infusing science into clothing, people can visually represent species and ecosystems in need of advocacy — something that, more often than not, leads to a teaching moment.
"When people wear Waterlust gear, it's just a matter of time before somebody asks them about the bright, funky designs," said Waterlust's CEO, Patrick Rynne. "That moment is incredibly special, because it creates an intimate opportunity for the wearer to share what they've learned with another."
The idea for the company came to Rynne when he was a Ph.D. student in marine science.
"I was surrounded by incredible people that were discovering fascinating things but noticed that often their work wasn't reaching the general public in creative and engaging ways," he said. "That seemed like a missed opportunity with big implications."
Waterlust initially focused on conventional media, like film and photography, to promote ocean science, but the team quickly realized engagement on social media didn't translate to action or even knowledge sharing offscreen.
Rynne also saw the "in one ear, out the other" issue in the classroom — if students didn't repeatedly engage with the topics they learned, they'd quickly forget them.
"We decided that if we truly wanted to achieve our goal of bringing science into people's lives and have it stick, it would need to be through a process that is frequently repeated, fun, and functional," Rynne said. "That's when we thought about clothing."
Support Marine Research and Sustainability in Style
To date, Waterlust has sold tens of thousands of pieces of apparel in over 100 countries, and the interactions its products have sparked have had clear implications for furthering science communication.
For Caruso alone, it's led to opportunities to share her abalone restoration methods with communities far and wide.
"It moves my small little world of what I'm doing here in Orange County, California, across the entire globe," she said. "That's one of the beautiful things about our partnership."
Check out all of the different eco-conscious apparel options available from Waterlust to help promote ocean conservation.
Melissa Smith is an avid writer, scuba diver, backpacker, and all-around outdoor enthusiast. She graduated from the University of Florida with degrees in journalism and sustainable studies. Before joining EcoWatch, Melissa worked as the managing editor of Scuba Diving magazine and the communications manager of The Ocean Agency, a non-profit that's featured in the Emmy award-winning documentary Chasing Coral.
The Earth for America project features an animated emperor penguin named "Earth" who is running for Congress. The mascot's Gore-approved platform includes renewable energy, clean energy jobs, electric vehicles, land conservation, health, and clean air and water.
She’s a penguin of the people and she’s got my vote. Consider this my official endorsement of Congressional candida… https://t.co/7T2VCBwDHu— Al Gore (@Al Gore)1539097633.0
"Earth knows that young people have the power to change the world," Gore, who chairs The Climate Reality Project, said in a press release sent to EcoWatch. "I'm so inspired by the passionate and dedicated young leaders who are getting involved and making their voices heard. It's crucial that this energy is translated into votes this November."
Iconic graphic artist Shepard Fairey's Studio Number One created the official campaign portrait in his signature style.
The Earth For America campaign—a partnership between The Climate Reality Project, MAL\FOR GOOD, TBWA\Chiat\Day and The Mill—also released an official announcement video featuring Earth (voiced by actress, host and digital content creator Liza Koshy).
"As a young, registered voter, Earth's perspective, message and relatable tone resonates with me," Koshy said in the press release. "She stands for issues that hit home (literally) for us all. I encourage everyone to use their platform, as Earth does, to ensure their voice is heard. You don't have to be a cute penguin running for Congress, but you DO have to VOTE."
Follow Earth's campaign train on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
Those of us with a little knowledge of the climate crisis bristle at this kind of doom-and-gloom bombast—because we know better. But that doesn't mean a few thoughtful films haven't been able to cut through the noise.
Below are six of our favorites. We decided to spice it up by mixing narrative films with documentaries—and while our changing climate understandably casts a long, dark shadow over any future that wrestles with its impacts, we did our best to stay on the right side of the fine line between raucous, factually dubious calamity and thought-provoking "what if" explorations or science-centered spectacle.
1. Interstellar
Director Christopher Nolan's Interstellar is that rarest of Hollywood anomalies—a wildly complicated, lavishly expensive, wholly original mainstream blockbuster. It doesn't exist in the Marvel or DC cinematic universes; instead, it occupies a not-so-distant-future version of our very own—and things aren't exactly going great.
While the words "climate change" are never explicitly said in the film, the impacts of the crisis are writ large, driving a plot about an attempt to flee a near-future Earth reeling from drastically changing weather patterns and global food shortages for the safety of a new habitable planet.
Featuring one of the most stacked casts in recent memory, including Oscar winners Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Michael Caine and Ellen Burstyn and nominees Jessica Chastain, Timothée Chalamet and John Lithgow, Interstellar takes on a very real consequence of climate inaction, though it offers up an untenable solution.
After all, there's still no Planet B.
2. Beasts of the Southern Wild
Living in a Louisiana bayou community called "the Bathtub," six-year-old Hush Puppy (youngest-ever Best Actress Oscar nominee Quvenzhané Wallis) can't get the prehistoric aurochs her teacher tells her will be released from melting ice caps off her mind—even as the world in front of her crumbles and cowers, the victim of powerful storms, failing levees and familial health problems.
While the film's setting is technically fictional, it was inspired by several very real fishing villages in Southern Louisiana's Terrebonne Parish. These small, isolated wetland communities are threatened by climate-driven erosion, extreme weather and rising sea levels. Most notable among them is the rapidly disappearing Isle de Jean Charles, former home of "the first American climate refugees."
3. Chasing Coral
The 2017 documentary Chasing Coral enjoys a rare accolade: It is one of a pretty short list of films to hold a 100 percent "fresh" rating on popular review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.
That coral reefs are existentially threatened by the climate crisis is a truth near-universally acknowledged. But filmmaker Jeff Orlowski doesn't simply telegraph a report on this impending ecological catastrophe.
Instead, Orlowski infuses his film with such empathy and ardor for our world's oceans and their vibrant ecosystems—as well as those working hard to save what's left—that it's impossible to not walk away pumped up and ready to join the fight.
4. Snowpiercer
Like we already mentioned, we try to avoid cynical, despondent hot takes on the climate crisis. But we're fans of director Bong Joon Ho's Snowpiercer for two big reasons: First, it's a very, very good, wildly underseen film, and second, because it confronts head-on the dangers of a "we'll deal with this later" approach to climate action.
The film is set in a future where a failed geoengineering experiment to counteract climate change plunges the planet into a new ice age, killing all life except for those lucky enough (a phrase we're using loosely here) to have boarded the titular train. This train now circles the globe on a constant loop and a tyrannical class system has taken hold onboard.
It's an important cautionary tale: While we should investigate any and all scientific developments to stop the climate crisis, dangerous gambles like geoengineering—or for that matter, fleeing our planet for an imagined oasis somewhere deep in the universe—could come with unintended consequences. So, why risk it when we know for sure that quickly transitioning from fossil fuels to renewables can and will work?
There's even an important philosophical principle – one at work in another great, underappreciated sci-fi film, 1997's Contact—to back this one up. Attributed to fourteenth century logician and Franciscan friar William of Ockham, Ockham's Razor states … well, Jodie Foster's Dr. Ellie Arroway put it best: "All things being equal, the simplest answer is usually the right one."
Note: For all its incredible imagination, Snowpiercer definitely has some moments of real violence and isn't one for younger audiences.
5. An Inconvenient Truth / An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power
Now, of course, the film that started a movement—and the follow-up that propelled it to new heights.
After seeing former U.S. Vice President Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth, people worldwide finally understood the reality of the climate crisis devastating our planet. For many, it was the moment they knew they personally had to do something about it. The film's impact continues to be felt more than a decade after it won the 2007 Academy Award for Best Documentary and took its place among the highest-grossing documentaries ever.
Last year's follow-up, An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power, took that story further, showcasing both the amazing progress that's been made as well as how much further we still have to go to solve the climate crisis.
Both documentaries present the science and stakes of the crisis and ask viewers if they're ready to fight like our world depends on it (because it does).
Are You Ready to Fight?
Just like you saw others do in An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power, you too can work with Vice President Gore himself along with a host of field-leading experts and activists to learn the facts of the climate crisis and how we can solve it together. Apply today to attend our Climate Reality Leadership Corps training in Los Angeles, California, from August 28-30, and join an incredible network of dedicated activists devoted to solving the greatest challenge of our time.
You know our climate is changing. You know renewable energy is the answer. And you want to make a difference. We'll show you how.
It sounds like a Mad Max movie, but the Cape Town water shortage is quite real and could be closer to reality for the rest of us than we would like. The World Wildlife Fund estimates that by 2025, two-thirds of the world population could be struggling with water shortage. And right here in the U.S., cities across the country are watching their water reserves dwindle.
Although factors such as poor planning and population growth are driving droughts in some regions, there is one common culprit that is exacerbating water crises around the globe: climate change. Experts point to high temperatures, drying rivers and melting snowpack as some of the factors behind the dry spells. They're also a wake-up call that the climate crisis is no distant threat. In fact, it's already affecting three big American cities and the daily lives of millions.
Here are three big American cities that could be the next Cape Town:
1. Los Angeles
California has a long history of water shortage, and Los Angeles is often at the center of the dust storm. In the early twentieth century, the dispute for water between the city and rural farmers was so bitter that it became known as the California Water Wars (and was turned into the Academy Award-winning movie Chinatown (1974) starring none other than Jack Nicholson).
Decades have passed since, but the city's water woes are seemingly getting worse. In 2014, the City of Angels was listed as one of the most water-stressed large city in the world by The Nature Conservancy. One of the proofs was that LA was hit with the worst drought in at least 1,200 years in 2014, triggered by high temperatures and reduced rainfall linked to the change of climate and weather patterns.
As a result, for the first time in history, Angelenos were instructed to limit their water usage by 25 percent in 2015. The directive has since been lifted, but if the world doesn't tackle the climate crisis, new dry spells will always be on the horizon. This year, for instance, snowpacks in the northern part of the state are frighteningly low—and they're one of the main suppliers of water for California.
2. Salt Lake City
For every degree Fahrenheit of warming in the Salt Lake City region, the flow of nearby streams could decrease by an average of 3.8 percent annually, according to a recent report by the Western Water Assessment. The number is worrisome, considering that global temperatures have been steadily rising, and the city depends on healthy streams for its fresh water supply.
Making matters even worse, rivers that flow into the Great Salt Lake—and that could be an alternative source of water to the city—are headed in the same direction. The lake itself has shrunk to nearly half of its former size in the last 170 years. It's no wonder that in 2014, the University of Florida's Environmental Hydrology Laboratory found that Salt Lake City was at a high level of fresh water vulnerability.
Residents have already started feeling the effects of water scarcity. In 2015, the mayor's office asked for cautious with water waste. Instructions included adjusting sprinklers and checking for leaks to protect the city's fragile water supply. If you ask us, it's time for the city to take climate action, especially since its population is expected to nearly double by 2050.
3. Miami
Why is Miami on this list? After all, the city is surrounded by water in all forms—it literally sits on the sea and has access to plenty of rain, lakes and groundwater. However, the megacity is facing climate-related water concerns no less daunting than any other city on this list.
We all know that climate change has been fueling rising sea levels, and it's not just in the Pacific Islands. In America's Magic City, the rising seawater is leaking into, and contaminating, fresh water supplies above and underground. And although the problem has been around since the 1930s, rising sea levels mean these leaks are increasing at unprecedented rates . The water is even breaching underground defense barriers that were installed in recent decades and reaching freshwater wells.
As a result, neighboring cities are already struggling to find drinkable water. Hallandale Beach, which is just a few miles north of Miami, had to close six of its eight wells due to saltwater intrusion. And residents of the nearby Everglades National Park (including alligators) are getting salty with the ocean sweeping into the swamps. Miami-Dade residents all well aware of the risks, as more than 50 percent believe that the climate crisis will impact them personally.
As mean temperatures creep up, there's a risk that the crisis will worsen water stress across the U.S. and the rest of the world. But it's not a lost cause. We can work together with government officials, businesses, schools and faith communities to take climate action to the next level. Together we can reduce carbon emissions by adopt viable climate solutions—such as ditching dirty fossil fuels and embracing renewable energy.
Want to dive deeper into how the climate crisis is affecting rainfall, droughts and even hurricanes? Download our Climate Change and the Water Cycle e-book and check out answers to four of the most confusing questions about how the crisis impacts this vital resource. And learn why citizens everywhere support policies that accelerate the global transition to a clean energy economy.
Indeed, Germany was one of the first major economies to take significant steps to transition from nuclear and fossil fuels to clean energy, beginning in the 1990s. This transition was known as "Energiewende" (or "energy transition"), and its success is a major reason why Germans have come to embrace the many benefits of clean energy.
Over the past three decades, Germany has cemented its role as a climate solutions trendsetter.
Below, check out seven reasons why it has become so dominant in the clean energy space:
1. Between 1990 and 2016, total greenhouse gas emissions in the nation dropped 27.4 percent, even as its GDP grew 50.5 percent.
2. Germany generated 36 percent of its electricity with clean energy in 2017, an increase of nearly 4 percent from just the year prior. It was the third year in a row that over one-third of electricity in Germany was sourced from renewables.
3. The country is one of the top three countries in solar PV capacity, and on certain sunny and windy days, clean energy has provided almost 100 percent of the nation's daily electricity need.
4. Wind power is Germany's second largest electricity source, accounting for 18.8 percent of Germany's energy combination. In late December 2017, the nation's power prices went negative, which meant that consumers were paid to use it thanks to low demand, unusually warm weather, and strong winds.
5. Germany has strong greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) reduction goals. The country plans to reduce its GHG emissions by 40 percent from 1990 levels by 2020 and by up to 95 percent by 2050.
6. And it doesn't stop there. Germany plans to reduce its primary energy consumption by 20 percent below 2008 levels by 2020, and by 50 percent by 2050.
7. Almost all Germans support clean energy! A 2017 survey found that a whopping 95 percent of surveyed citizens rate the expansion of renewable energy as important or extremely important.
At Climate Reality, we're working to accelerate the global shift from the dirty fossil fuels driving climate change to renewable energies like wind and solar, so we can power our lives and economies without destroying our planet.
If you're ready to join us, learn more about becoming a Climate Reality Leader. Sign up now and we'll keep you updated about our upcoming trainings and ways you can get involved with the movement for climate solutions.
Show the Love is all about protecting the things we love but could lose to climate change. It's part of the ongoing effort to stand up for the people and places we love by demanding that our leaders make the switch to clean energy and by honoring everyday activists who are making that switch a reality.
Here are five ways you can join us and show the love this February:
1. Download a free #ShowTheLove Valentine's Day postcard. Print one out and send it to your representatives and elected officials to show the love for our planet, and call for climate action.
2. Make a green heart!! Get crafty with your kids or over wine with your friends. Green hearts will be popping up all over on Valentine's Day—make your own special heart and post it on social media using #ShowTheLove.
3. Take the quiz and find out: What kind of climate activist are you? Every one of us brings something different and important to the climate movement. So what kind of activist are you? Click here to take the quiz and we'll tell you!
4. Learn the basics of climate change. In this free-e-book, we outline the fundamentals of climate change in plain language, provide tips on how to take action, and list additional helpful resources. Whether you're learning about the climate crisis for the first time or simply need a refresher, Climate Crisis 101 is a great way to get started.
5. Share a green heart graphic. Help us build awareness about climate change on social media by sharing the graphic below on Facebook or Twitter (make sure to include #ShowTheLove).
Have more ideas or unique ways to join in? Let us know! Tweet @ClimateReality and tell us how you're going to #ShowTheLove. No matter how you choose to take part, we hope you can join in and speak out for climate action this Valentine's Day.