Life Onboard LAST UPDATE  July 18, 2009
site design imagesparkle.com
June 16, 2009 Special In Pictures – Earth Day!
image
Peace Boat’s environmental school, conducted onboard from Egypt, entered into its final days as the ship approached Iceland. As a celebration of possible means we can pursue to create a more sustainable future, staff and participants created Earth Day, incorporating aspects of sustainable living that participants have learnt over the first four weeks of the voyage from different guest educators, and promoting a more ecologically friendly lifestyle whilst maintaining a high quality of life. Pictured is the participant-run Earth Café, which was set up especially for Earth Day and used only organic and fair trade products, with proceeds being donated to Peace Boat`s environmental projects.
site design imagesparkle.com
image
A variety of events were run throughout the course of the day, building a festival-like atmosphere. Events included a free book exchange, henna art workshop, water conservation activities, recycled art, a free exchange market, as well as a workshop to promote the use of personal chopsticks instead of disposable ones, the use of which in Japan is a major cause of environmental destruction and deforestation. Pictured is an entry in the eco-postcard competition, an Earth Day initiative where entrants had to portray an eco-message using no written language.
image
A stage and microphone were provided for staff and participants to voice their opinions and express their messages to the rest of the ship, which resulted in live music, singing, dancing and passionate speeches about the contemporary state of the planet. Pictured is GET teacher Rob Pott, who created a poem about the fragility of the earth and the gravity of the loss that will be felt if we fail to prevent the destruction of the environment.
image
The Baltic International Students co-ordinated an eco-TV message campaign, encouraging everybody to record their message, opinion or statement concerning the environment, sustainability or climate change. The recordings will later be used by the students in their respective home countries in future environmental awareness and climate change campaigns.
image
Did you know that there are two massive plastic floating islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean? Composed of discarded PET bottles, they are held in place by the shifting ocean currents and roam across the Pacific between California and Japan. Discovered in 1997, it is estimated its size will double by the year 2020. Plastic PET bottles are a huge source of unnecessary wastage around the world. In the US alone last year, over 26,000,000,000 litres of water were sold in PET bottles, the majority of which end up in landfills or other locations, such as the Pacific Ocean. GET (Global English and Espanol Training) teachers Watanabe Meme and Sally Finning gave a presentation concerning the magnitude of the waste we are producing as a consumerist society and the implications that this has on the environment around us.
image
Participants were given the opportunity to print their own clothes and accessories with different messages using a wide array of stencils created by Communication Coordinator (CC) Adam Mahowald and other participants. This method is extremely effective in spreading the message of sustainability as well as creating stylish designs without supporting major clothing corporations that employ unethical means of production such as child labour.
image
Guest Educators Andri Snær Magnason from Iceland, and Takemura Shinichi from Japan, shared their differing opinions and beliefs in a conference-style presentation concerning water and its importance for the survival of our earth. Mr Takemura explained how we do not fully understand the potential that water offers us as a natural resource and the need to increase this awareness, whilst Mr Magnason spoke of the way in which we seek a deeper understanding as to what extent we as human beings, and the planet, are influenced by water.
image
( photo by Mitoshi Nakamura)
Demonstrating just how much potential there is for the waste that we dispose of, as part of the Oceanic Earth Collection fashion show, a large component was comprised of recycled materials and garbage. In addition to these two entries, one other section was comprised of garments solely produced by fair trade. Pictured is a traditional Japanese styled collection, created with kimono fabric and recycled materials collected onboard the ship, such as the Sports day banner which was transformed into a red kimono.
img