Kids Ocean Day: A Design for the Future

Kids Ocean Day is returning to Dockweiler Beach on May 14, writes founder and today’s guest blogger Michael Kublock. It does take a village to heal the bay…

May 8, 2015 — It’s May, which for all of us at the Malibu Foundation for Environmental Education means one thing: Kids Ocean Day. This Thursday, we will bring more than 3,500 students from more than 30 L.A. schools to Dockweiler Beach for a massive cleanup and to participate in an aerial artwork display, designed by a Los Angeles student and brought to life by aerial artist John Quigley.

We believe that education + action = protection. So every year, we educate Los Angeles schoolchildren about the ocean and litter through school assemblies. Then, every May, we bring all of those kids, teachers and volunteers to Dockweiler State Beach to give them a platform for action.

After 22 years, you’d think it would be old hat, but every Kids Ocean Day is unique. This year during the assemblies we noticed how personally each kid and each school felt about the ocean. They also had their own ideas about how people can come together to clean it up and protect it for generations to come. That got us thinking: How can we honor the importance of individual vision and the power of uniting for a common cause?

That question inspired some changes to this year’s Kids Ocean Day. For example, we’re adding a moment of silence and a short mindfulness practice. We’re also switching up the aerial art. In the past, we had all the participants mix together to create one message. This year, each school will form its own fish, which will “swim” together with the other schools’ fishes, to form a united school of fish. It makes sense. When it comes to protecting our ocean, our individual efforts are essential, but when we band together we can amplify our message and collectively create a beautiful world to live in.

We’re really excited about this year’s Kids Ocean Day—but we’re excited every year. We’d love for you to join us in protecting our ocean.

To volunteer for the day, email us at volunteers@kidsoceanday.org.

Kids Ocean Day is sponsored by the City of Los Angeles Stormwater Program, a project of the Bureau of Sanitation, the City of Los Angeles Board of Public Works, as well as the California Coastal Commission, Keep LA Beautiful and Spectral Q.

Kids Ocean Day from above. Photo Credit: Jeff Pantukhoff, Spectral Q, Kids Ocean Day