Oceans, Seas & Me Movement
a not-for-profit organization that aims to promote awareness of ocean issues and sustainable living, provide tools for people to take action as well as support local ethical businesses.
Project Details
Oceans, Seas & Me is a resource I wanted to create that would promote awareness of ocean issues and sustainable living. It would also provide tools for people to take action as well as support local ethical businesses.
Oceans, Seas & Me
Hello! My name is Victoria Pitsiaeli, the founder and leader of Oceans, Seas and Me a not-for-profit organization that aims to promote awareness of ocean issues and sustainable living, provide tools for people to take action as well as support local ethical businesses. This is my Ocean Service Project with the Youth2Sea program.
Firstly, Oceans, Seas and Me encourages all to reflect upon and contemplate their inextricable link to the ocean. On our website, there are resources to learn more and find ways to live and shop locally and sustainably, connecting producers with consumers. In this way, not only does this eliminate packaging waste, but also supports small, local businesses that desperately need our help at this economically challenging time. Oceans, Seas and Me is not supposed to be a lecture on what is right or wrong, it simply invites people to consider other options.
For my project, I worked with three Vancouver-based sustainable businesses to sponsor two free giveaways with their products, to help people realize the possibilities out there to try to make a small change that goes a long way.
What was your biggest challenge?
Throughout the course of this project, the time commitment has definitely been the biggest challenge. Trying to launch this project and working on everything it has entailed while still being in high school has been hard to manage, time-wise. Since I started on Oceans, Seas and Me in October of last year, I’ve spent at least a portion of pretty much every day and every weekend working on this project. However, it’s all really worth it since I’ve learned so much and enjoyed the whole process. It’s so encouraging to see it successfully launched!
What was your most valuable takeaway?
My Ocean Service Project has given me unbelievable opportunities to explore things I am passionate about, want to learn more about and to make a difference while having the incredible support of my mentor and the team at YouthToSea and Ocean Wise behind me. The past few months have given me the chance to see what the world of not-for-profits and business is really like, and that’s been really exciting, considering I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to explore this otherwise. I’ve been able to learn so many valuable skills including working on persuasive grant applications, budgeting and making financial spreadsheets, effective business communication, liaising with other organizations, graphic design, website planning, designing, editing and numerous more skills. In the future, I’ve realized I’d love to launch a true not-for-profit organization that makes a global impact, and this has given me the incentive, skills and confidence to believe it’s possible.
Oceans Seas and Me
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