To our dearest Plastic Oceans Canada supporters,
I don’t know about you, but this time of year is one of my favourites. Is it quality time with loved ones and delicious food? Partially. But another reason is that I love the chance to reflect on the year past to celebrate accomplishments and channel that excitement into new goals and opportunities for the coming year. Now, I know many of you are so ready to say sayonara to 2021 with the hopes that 2022 will be the year but I think it is important to remind ourselves of all of the good that came out of the past year, even though for some, those good things can easily become overshadowed by the bad.
For myself, and the team at Plastic Oceans Canada, we have so much to celebrate and I want to share some of the amazing things that we accomplished in 2021.
- Launched our very first Circular Economy Ambassador Program that saw over 450 participants
- Welcomed 4 Canadian organizations and communities into our BlueCommunities initiatives
- Held our very first Trees & Seas festival in August which saw activities in over 100 geographical locations across the globe, 10 of which were held right here in Canada
- Expanded our team across the country with 3 permanent staff, many amazing contract staff, and volunteers
- Created our Science Advisory Panel that provides credible resources and advice for our projects
- Partnered with amazing organizations, like Biotherm, Cycle Water, Norquay Co and were even featured in a book, Plastic Pete’s Journey to Recycling
- Cleaned up almost 3 million square metres of Canadian shorelines with 350+ volunteers, removing close to 5,000 lbs of debris
- Thanks to you, we also exceeded every single fundraising goal we set out to accomplish
Looking forward to 2022, we aim to create an even bigger impact by shifting our focus towards an advocacy based approach to keeping plastic out of our environment for good. We will accomplish this by:
- Getting involved with local governments to create policy change that ensures we are less reliant on plastic and have real, sustainable alternatives
- Joining forces with organizations driving change in Canada, such as FCM and Circular Economy Leadership Canada to work alongside key stakeholders with a focus on the reduction of plastic in our economy
- Expanding our BlueCommunities Initiative in Canada by adding 6 more communities for a total of 10 by the end of 2022
- Launching Rethink.Refill in Canada
- Growing our Circular Economy Ambassador Program in 2022 to engage over 1,500 students
- Providing comments and feedback on forthcoming federal Single-Use Plastic bans (and share with you, too!)
We are in the final days of our year-end fundraising campaign and while we have met our goal of $30,000 raised, we would love your support in reaching our extended goal of $35,000! Please consider donating to receive your year-end tax receipt!
As you can see, we are in for another very exciting year and we can’t wait to create change with you. For a healthier ocean, for a healthier you.
Wishing you all the very best start to 2022, and beyond.
Natasha Tucker
Executive Director
