I have consistently said when I “grow up” I want to do photography & cinematography. I have been filmed several times and I love the process of sharing about conservation and wildlife. Cinematography is such an amazing way to share a message to a larger broader audience. Check out this new film I am in with Rivers are Life!
Tag: fishing
Earth Day!
Last week, we celebrated Earth Day. I’m not sure what you did but here’s a little glimpse into what my week looked like! First, I had to plan because I knew I was going to busy.
Tuesday, I went to my nearest national park which overlooks the Tennessee River. It’s such a beautiful spot to enjoy and see exactly what I’m fighting for.
Wednesday, I went to Arrowhead Resort in Spring city, Tennessee to place 4 monofilament bins. Spoke to their owner/manager and had a very productive meeting. Later in the day I did an interview about rivers and pollution with ABC news live.
Thursday, I placed another monofilament bin at Booker T. Washington state park. I also met with my local chapter of trout unlimited and am working with them to place 8-10 more monofilament bins in heavily fished areas.
Friday, I spoke to the biology and wildlife club at University of Tennessee Chattanooga (UTC) about my work and how every person can do something to improve the world around them for ourselves and our wildlife. After this, I went to CMC recycling which is where I recycle all of my aluminum to fund my monofilament project. (This turned out to be an awesome trip, my mom won a super cool griddle/grill after their guessing game)
Saturday was officially EARTH DAY! there was so much we could have done and joined on cleanups with other groups but by then I was pretty worn out so we went to another recycling center just to drop off a few bags of plastics for recycling then we did a family cleanup.
It was a busy week and things haven’t really slow brown and that’s ok. Keeping the motivation going to help keep our planet clean is exciting. I’ll post the link to the ABC interview below.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/video/earth-week-meet-teenager-helping-save-rivers-oceans-98699410
Cleanups!
So lately I have done several cleanups, alone and with others. Either way, I am making an impact and so can you. From 2 pounds to 20,000, every single piece and pound matter.
Environmental Grant
I am so excited to say I was awarded a grant from Tennessee American Water. This funding will further my monofilament recycling project. I am hoping to expand this project into more state parks and hopefully national parks!
If you know of a spot with a lot of fishing and discarded fishing line, let me know me I will try to add a monofilament bin and address this problem.
Shark Tournament
I’m a few weeks on July 9th, if nothing is done, there will be a trophy tournament in Jupiter, Florida for sharks.
Over 250 species of shark are labeled as endangered, critically endangered, vulnerable or data deficient. That means we don’t know enough about them to say whether or not they are at risk of extinction yet.
This is so disheartening to know that some of these species will be killed for sport. They will be slaughtered, and while on the brink of extinction, it’s legal. How does this make sense? It doesn’t.
Please hope by signing this petition to get this senseless killing stopped. Fishing for food is not a terrible thing but this is sport. This is completely unnecessary and sickening. Our planet depends on species like sharks to maintain a healthy ecosystem.
https://www.change.org/p/help-cancel-shark-killing-tournament-in-jupiter-florida
Tennessee Environmental Network Show of the South
Last week, I was invited to the Tennessee Environmental Network Show of the South by Commissioner Salyers with TDEC (Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation).
This conference was attended by people in environmental and sustainability roles in large businesses, NGO’s, and government. Meeting and learning from these people was such an inspiring and uplifting because these are the people making real change in our state and region.
I was able to speak about recycling and NGO’s and how everyone can make a difference. We cannot rely on government entities to be the ones who care about our environment. It’s everyone’s job, including yours. What we do in a daily basis is what matters.
I met with not only local leaders but national leaders. People with the EPA know my name and my story. How amazing is that?!
40!!!!
If you’ve been following along with me for a while, you know I’ve been partnering with Tennessee State parks. Recently, I went to Tim’s Ford, Edgar Evans & Rock island state park and now officially have 40 monofilament receptacles out! I am so excited this program is really taking off and spreading across our state. Our watersheds will be a little safer from excess fishing line and now it can properly be taken care of and recycled.
Tennessee State Parks
Recently, I’ve been contacting Tennessee State Parks and have now partnered with 4 to place monofilament recycling bins. These 14 bins placed between Booker. T Washington, Fall Creek Falls, Harrison Bay, & South Cumberland State park will collect fishing line to reduce this waste in our rivers and landfills. So happy to be able to work on this project which is funded by a grant from Youth Serving America & Hillshire Farms. How special, all of these were placed on World Water Day!
GLOBAL RECYCLING DAY
GLOBAL RECYCLING DAY
This is my simple recycling concept in under 10 seconds!
You can change the world your own way. This is one way I feel liken making a difference and I have some super exciting news coming in a few weeks! So many more of these monofilament receptacles are going out with the help of individuals, grants and money I’ve made from recycling.
1 TON!
A few weeks ago, after almost a year of work on aluminum can recycling , I hit the 1 TON mark! I keep track of how many pounds each time I take them to be recycled and it took 10 months to recycle 1 ton of aluminum.
The cans I pick up are from Play.Wash.Pint. A local dog play park where people meet, gather, hang out and their dogs can play in a safe space. This Business hated to see all of this potential just to the trash so I partnered with them and pick up all their aluminum and some plastic for recycling. The money I make from these cans goes to make my monofilament bins that are placed along the Tennessee River. There are now 17 out and I couldn’t have done it without this partnership. If you have an idea, and don’t know where to start or how to find it, look in the trash, who knows, you may find an idea? And you can help the planet too!
The Conservation Kid 