Environmental News

Ocean Blue Team gives Thanksgiving thank you to ocean supporters and announces prize winning donors this week, plants trees on Black Friday. By Karisa Boyce

For a Thankful Thanksgiving this year, Ocean Blue Project, a grassroots environmental nonprofit, is calling on local volunteers in Albany, Oregon to Buy Less, Do More, Plant Trees this Black Friday. The best way to give a Thanksgiving thank you this year, when the climate change crisis is more pressing than ever, is to buy less and do more. ​

Ocean Blue urges environmental action. Let's Plant Trees. Let's do good for clean water and hide from all the wild shopping on this Black Friday. Bring your smiles, Thanksgiving thank you, and let's plant native trees and shrubs for wildlife, clean water, and to lower water temperatures by shading a local water way with Ocean Blue team trees. 

Local volunteers will join for planting of native shrubs along a popular walking and biking path adjacent Periwinkle Creek in Albany. Other Oregonians will be giving back as well through a popular Portland area publication fundraising campaign, Willamette Week’s Give!Guide. The Give!Guide features 152 of the most impactful PDX nonprofits that folks can choose from to donate. 

Black Friday: November 29 - Plant Trees with Ocean Blue (Become a member here to provide trees for the project - leave a comment about where you want your trees)
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Giving Tuesday: December 3 - Give $10 or more here to win! 
From Ocean Blue You Get: Two tickets to the Pendleton Roundup
From Give!Guide You Get: Two nights at Brasada Ranch in a Luxury suite and a round of golf 

If You’re 35 or Under: You have twice the chance of winning, as we’ll be giving out a second Brasada vacation package to one donor under the age of 36!

Big Give Day Thursday: December 5 - Give $10 or more here to win!
From Ocean Blue You Get: $50 Gift Card from LiveEdge Eco Salon
From Give!Guide You Get: Two weekend passes to Feast Portland 2020, a $500 gift card from New Seasons Market, a $150 gift card to Tasty n Daughters and one year’s supply of goodies from: ¿Por Qué No?, Nossa Familia Coffee, Jasmine Pearl Tea Company, Gluten Free Gem, and Ground Up Nut Butter

Enter Photo Contest to Win Zipline, Zoo, and Getaway (enter by 12/31/2019)
Enter this photo contest for even more chances to win even more cool prizes from Ocean Blue Project, including Pumpkin Ridge Zipline, Oregon Zoo, and one night stay at Brasada Ranch.

The G!G encourages young folks who are 35 and under to donate $10. By giving up two lattes this week, you can give to a good cause making a positive impact in your community. Local business owners are giving back too by offering an array of incentive prizes. You can get free stuff depending on the amount you donate, or you can donate a small amount and be entered to win a bigger prize or package. 
Prizes from Ocean Blue business partners include Bend Distillery and Portland Thorns, whose winners will be announced in the Ocean Blue newsletter! Sign up on the homepage of this site to find out future winners! More winners will receive tickets to Pendleton Roundup and Oregon Symphony, gifts from Thunderpants, LiveEdge Eco Salon, Alexana and Stoller Family Estate wineries. 

Other Big Give Day prizes are listed below. To find out what you can win by donating $10 or more through Willamette Week’s Give!Guide, just keep scrolling. 

Give through December 31st:  
Dorsal Bracelets is giving a limited-edition Ocean Blue bracelet for the first 100 to give at least $50. First 10 to donate $500 enter to win Chateau Bianca Winery Tour & Tasting for 10+. 
The first 5 to donate $1,000 enter to win a 2 night stay with Oregon Beach Vacations.

December 12 - Give: $10 or more
From Ocean Blue You Get: Two tickets to the Oregon Symphony
From Give!Guide You Get: A Tender Loving Empire vinyl package and weekend passes to Treefort Music Fest, Sisters Folk Festival, McMenamins Sabertooth Fest, Oregon Jamboree, Harefest and two tickets to the select show of your choice at the Portland Jazz Festival.
(The vinyl package includes four new TLE releases on vinyl with digital downloads, a $100 shopping spree, a comfy crewneck, a campfire mug for your adventures, and a set of three art prints.) 

December 19 - Give: $10 or more
From Ocean Blue You Get: $150 Gift Certificate from Thunderpants
From Give!Guide You Get: A Specialized FX 1 Commuter Bike from Bike Gallery. 

December 26 - Give: $10 or more
From Ocean Blue You Get: Alexana Wine Experience for four, and Stoller Family Estate Wine Tasting for ten. 
From Give!Guide You Get: A vacation package from the Oregon Cultural Trust that will take you across the amazing state we are lucky enough to call home! Visit giveguide.org for more details. ​

Ocean Blue has a goal of $15,000 from 150 donors, so be sure to mark those dates on your calendar. Proceeds will go toward Trees for Streams, to enhance wildlife habitat and water quality in Oregon’s waterways. The spirit of giving a Thanksgiving thank you can be extended through the holiday season all the way to December 31st. 
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We have received $3,010 from 36 donors so far, so please donate or share this fundraiser with your friends and family to help us reach our goal. Consider giving in honor or memory of someone for the holidays and remember what matters the most this thankful Thanksgiving. If we all continue to give back a little, our one world Ocean will be clean one day. ​

Second Dolphin found dead in Florida by Richard Arterbury founder of Ocean Blue Project. 

FORT MYERS BEACH FLORIDA - Local beach goers found a dead Dolphin that was 7ft stranded on a local beach. The beach goers shared what she had found on her Facebook page and soon after Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission researchers determined the cause of death, a 24-inch plastic hose was found in the esophagus and fore stomach of the Dolphin.  According to the Facebook post this dolphin was found stranded on the beach.  

May 9, 2019 - This is the second stranded dolphin in one month of this region that had ingested plastic. The first dolphin was found on April 23, 2019 and was a female Rough Toothed dolphin and was also found stranded on a Fort Myers Beach. Marine animals have no idea they are today living with over 8 million metric tons of plastic floating in our Ocean and how this can affect them if ingested. 

Florida has many marine animals with a few you may see like the Sea Turtles, Manatees, Echinoderms: Sand dollars, sea cucumber, sea urchin, Crabs, Ghost crabs, hermit crabs, leopard crabs, Rays, Pelicans, Octopus, Jellyfish, and amazing Corals. ​

This January, an endangered Bryde’s whale was found stranded in the Everglades National Park located in the Gulf of Mexico and they found this whale ingested a sharp piece of plastic. ​

Florida Wildlife Commission encourages beach goers that, should they encounter a stranded marine mammal, to stay back at least 250 feet and not to touch or try to return the animal to the water but to call WC’s Wildlife Alert at 1-888-404-3922 and give the exact address, beach name of this found animal and to allow trained experts to respond. 

Humans have the power to help lower the amount of plastic from our one world Ocean. It’s vital we teach our children and remind yourself and friends it’s time to take action and properly dispose of trash making sure it doesn’t end up in rivers or urban streams that flow to our Ocean. 
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Other ways you can help take action is to join a beach cleanup to help remove plastic from local beaches, rivers, or lakes and share information on how to reduce marine debris and land base debris with others. 

Ocean Blue Project a grassroots nonprofit of Oregon has a newly formed Florida Chapter named the Florida Gulf Keepers and will be hosting many beach cleanups starting this December starting in West Palm Beach Florida, Sarasota, Fort Myers, and in Indian Rocks Beach. Please give back by making a donation supporting beach cleanups, or join a beach cleanup with our local nonprofit. Join The Next Florida Beach Clean up. 

This black Friday do something food for the environment like a local beach cleanup, river cleanup, or plant a tree. 

Today is the big give day and you could win Portland Thorns Tickets and Trail Blazer Tickets, by Ocean Blue Project. 

Today is the Big Give Day and when you Give $10 or more You Could Win: Two tickets with parking to the Portland Trail Blazers vs. Minnesota (12/21/2019) game, two tickets with parking to the Trail Blazers vs. Milwaukie (01/11/2020), and a basketball signed by the entire team!

Ocean Blue Project is also giving away 2 free tickets to the Portland Thorns when you donate to Ocean Blue Project on the Give!Guide link below. 

Click the button below to create your own fundraiser you can share with friends and family about your favorite nonprofit. by Richard Arterbury

Dear Ocean Supporters,

This GivingTuesday we’re fundraising for protecting marine wildlife, our goals is $1 million dollars that will go to river restoration projects, youth education, and volunteer beach cleanup opportunities that cover the United States. We need your help.

How can you help?
As a supporter of Ocean Blue Project, we need your help. Create a Facebook fundraiser and share it with your friends on GivingTuesday. Creating a fundraiser is easy and we welcome fundraisers with any goal amount.

Start a Fundraiser

Where will the money raised will go?
Plastic removal from beaches and the one world Ocean. Every $dollar raised we are able to remove one pound of plastic.  Facebook is contributing up to a $7 Million match to US nonprofits for GivingTuesday 2019. Starting  8:00am EST (5am PST) on December 3, 2019 the match will go live, matching dollar for dollar on a first come first serve basis until it hits $7 million matched.

Thank you for your support.
Ocean Blue Project.org

This fall has brought the perfect planting weather. Heavy rain followed by sunny days have prepared the clay based soil of Albany, Oregon well for a second year of planting along Periwinkle Creek. Rain softens the soil to make digging holes easier than it would be in the heat of summer. Then the sun comes out and volunteers get to soak up the end of the year’s nice weather while protecting landscape along a local stream and popular walking path. Check out the river planting photos!

Ocean Blue is well into the second year of an urban stream restoration project aimed at engaging the community while enhancing wildlife habitat. Some of the volunteers joining in the planting efforts with Ocean Blue are high risk youth. They either attend Greater Albany School District high schools and are required to do community service or are housed at a correctional facility.
These high risk youth are doing more than just showing up to plant with Ocean Blue. The New Beginnings Garden program housed at Oak Creek Youth Correctional Facility is the backbone of the Periwinkle Creek Wildlife Enhancement Project. The students are learning about horticulture and gaining skills by propagating the majority of the plants for the project. Providing most of the native shrubs and trees, the New Beginnings Garden and youth taking part in it are essential to the project. 

Working with the youth gives Richard Arterbury, founder of Ocean Blue, hope for the future. “It gives me hope for future generations of our youth because we’re teaching them the value of urban streams and water quality, and native plants for wildlife.” His hope is not unfounded. Research has shown that green horticulture programs reduce recidivism rates or the likelihood of re-arrest, re-conviction, or re-incarceration. This decreased recidivism rate is linked to reducing risk taking behaviors, improving decision-making skills, and a general psychosocial function improvement.
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Ocean Blue and the New Beginnings Garden provide an opportunity to expose at risk youth to nature and the outdoors. The collaborative project is providing local at risk youth with a therapeutic outdoor program that teaches horticulture and job skills. The youth are also aware that the native plants they place in the ground will provide shade for invertebrates and fish, and for people that walk and bike on the Periwinkle Bike Path.

New Beginnings Garden began working collaboratively in streamside enhancement and habitat restoration work in 2016. Since then, Ocean Blue has been the primary purchaser of native plants the youth involved in the New Beginnings Garden have propagated.

The New Beginnings Garden is a partnership between the Linn County Juvenile Department and the Oregon Youth Authority. The garden is located on the grounds of the Oak Creek Youth Correctional Facility in Albany Oregon. Youth within the Linn-Benton Juvenile Detention Center and Linn County Work Service Program range in age from 12-18 and are comprised of both males and females. Youth from the Oak Creek Youth Correctional Facility range in age from 12-25, however this is a female only facility. 

The New Beginnings Garden, Native Plant Propagation Program provides a platform for collaboration with local community partners, the juvenile justice system, and high risk youth. The youth involved in this program learn basic employment skills and are provided with more advanced training and skill building opportunities in horticulture and restoration work. This program is an experiential based model focusing on achieving skills through hands on work with plants native to the Willamette Valley region of Oregon. These skills are instrumental in changing the lives of the youth served in Linn County. 

The Ocean Blue Project continues to support those efforts in helping change the lives of high risk youth through their restoration work improving water quality and wildlife habitat, all for the sake of the oceans of the world. Without the support of partners like the Ocean Blue Project, the New Beginnings Garden would not be sustainable. 

The Periwinkle Creek Wildlife Enhancement Project in Albany is now in the second year of restoration with a five year plan to place native trees and shrubs along the entire length of the stream to the confluence at the Willamette River. The shape of water begins near Grand Prairie Road and Waverly Drive flowing under I-5 and through a new housing development where Ocean Blue has already placed native plants. 

After plants are placed in the ground they are each monitored for five years following. “We measure survival rate and replace any plants that may die after heavy flooding, but our fatality rate is almost none.” Arterbury stated. Plant death is common in previously unplanted areas, but not for Ocean Blue plantings, especially in the first year. Due to the use of a holistic ecosystem approach that applies fungi to the soil, Ocean Blue has low fatality rate. 

By applying fungi mixed with coffee grounds around the base of the plants, microorganisms are encouraged to grow and work synergistically with the plant roots. The roots stabilize stream banks and prevent polluted sediment from being washed down the creek and into the Willamette River, which provides drinking water for millions who live downstream. 

Additional funding for the Periwinkle Creek Project in Albany has been provided by Patagonia, The Schwemm Family Foundation, Spirit Mountain Community Fund, Weyerhaeuser, donor advised funding through the Oregon Community Foundation, and local community donors that include individuals and businesses like Target’s Albany store. Not only are these sponsors supporting clean water projects, they are helping to heal the oceans of the world. 

Health equity starts with the health of the environment and our natural water resources while addressing the well-being of our younger generations. To ensure that our one world ocean continues to provide plenty of fish and oxygen that people depend on for survival, we all need to step up in solidarity by charitable giving and volunteerism. 

To get involved with the Periwinkle Creek Project in Albany, OR reach out to the Ocean Blue Project Team at www.oceanblueproject.org. ​

Donating 1% of annual sales to Ocean Blue Project to help protect our environment by Richard Arterbury. 

Join our team and help Create Volunteer Opportunities at local Florida beaches with Ocean Blue Project. 

​Have an interest in ocean conservation? 

Ocean Blue Project is a Environmental non profit of marine researchers interested in saving marine wildlife and lowering plastic pollution. Protect the ocean, coral reefs, and be a part of the Ocean Blue “Florida Gulf Keepers” coastal cleanup efforts for the Pinellas County cleanup to protect healthy oceans and marine life, and ultimately all life on earth. Ocean Blue received many emails last year about dead marine animals throughout the seawater during red tide season. It was heartbreaking to witness so many injured and dying marine animals. The Ocean Blue board of members are launching fundraisers for solutions to help save marine animals throughout Florida. 

To Give Back, Ocean Blue will: 

1. Blue Beaches Program Create A Cleanup
Host over 20 beach cleanups in the State of Florida to remove microplastic and other land-based debris.
2. Blue Schools Program
Empower over 17,000 students and over 750 classrooms to become stewards of the environment and the importance of lowering single use plastics.
3.  Blue Streams & Rivers Program

Target point source runoff by testing water in urban streams for phosphorus and other toxins coming into the ocean. This research strategy uses fungi to remove pathogens and toxins destroying our waterways. Ocean Blue has goals to conduct this research during wildlife enhancement restoration projects to take place in six urban streams. Streams will be identified in collaboration with local governing agencies by the end of summer 2025. 

Have a passion for saving marine animals, the Gulf Coast, and our Ocean? Join a local beach cleanup with Ocean Blue. The Ocean Blue Florida Region will be hosting Gulf Keepers Beach Cleanups in several Florida chapters to help save the ocean. 

Florida Beach Community Cleanup Event
Beach: Indian Rocks Beach
When: Saturday, January 25, 2020
Time: 8am to 12pm

Want to give back and are unable make this event? 
If you can’t make it to an official Beach Cleanup event, keep in mind that anyone residing in coastal Metropolitan areas can help save the Ocean by picking up two pieces of plastic litter every day and by sharing your photos with #WeCleanBeaches. 

Support grassroots environmental non profits by giving directly. Find out how you can become an Ocean Blue member on our website. www.oceanblueproject.org

​Without women, grassroots nonprofit Ocean Blue would be making far less impact for our Ocean that impact our lives.

Article published by Karisa Boyce of Ocean Blue Project. 

​Women have a reputation for being the biggest caretakers of the Earth. Around the globe, women take notice of agricultural and industrial practices and how their environments are impacted as a result. They are known for making movements in their communities to protect natural resources 

Grassroots environmental non profit, Ocean Blue Project, hears from people across the United States who want to help clean up the Ocean. Women want to leave a better planet and home for their children and future generations, which is why it is no surprise that Executive Director of Ocean Blue, Richard Arterbury, has this to say, “People are reaching out from all over the world and especially from the U.S. who want to give back to the Ocean and just aren’t sure how. The majority of our volunteers are women.” 

Women are leading the way for the environmental movement. One example is Wangari Maathai, Greenbelt Movement founder and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, who led Kenyan women to plant 51 million trees.Trees are essential for mitigating negative effects of climate change. Their roots filter city street and agricultural runoff water for waterways that flow to our one world Ocean. 

Today, we see Greta Thunberg stepping up to influence the climate change school strike and marches. The United States needs leadership that can help the country step up to do something similar. Women make up half the world’s population and a large portion of Ocean Blue supporters are women. 

Time and time again, we see roughly 80% of beach cleanup volunteers being women. These women often bring their children and families. Not only are they stewarding the environment themselves, these women are teaching their children stewardship by example. We see women stepping up to lead the way in local communities from coast to coast in the U.S. 

Jenny Yu of San Francisco, California and Christen Enrich of Lake Worth, Florida are just two of the women who reached out to Ocean Blue this year to Create a Cleanup. These women took it upon themselves to lead their local communities in beach cleanup efforts with the support of Ocean Blue. 

Jenny Yu is the Service Chair of the SF Unified Lions Club. Over the summer, the club met at Ocean Beach in San Francisco to pick up litter. Yu described the impact her group made, “We collected a bunch of food wrappers, bottles, and things people left behind from enjoying their time there. The garbage cans were over filled before we even got there so that also made the walkway to the beach filthy and dirty. There was a bunch of cigarettes, clothing items and auto parts we found as well.”

The SF Unified Lions Club made great impact on the west coast, while Christen Enrich was empowering her family and friends to do the same on the U.S. East Coast. Enrich first discovered Ocean Blue over the summer as a volunteer beach cleanup on Singer Island - North Palm Beach.

Enrich recalls, “I was speaking to Richard and he mentioned being able to open it up to where people can organize their own cleanups, so when I saw the opportunity I was in!” She is looking forward to doing another cleanup in Lake Worth, Florida soon. “The kids really enjoyed it.” 

The Create a Cleanup program allows women like Yu and Enrich, and anyone who wants to lead a cleanup, the opportunity to make direct impact for the natural spaces they love. The program also keeps travel costs and carbon footprint for cleanup projects low. With carbon emissions being a leading factor of climate change, Create a Cleanup program also  lets Ocean Blue keep grassroots donations closer to home, making larger impact for all communities.

Even neighborhood cleanups located inland from the Ocean can make a difference. The Ocean is a mirror reflection of our city streets. A plastic straw that falls into an urban stream after fresh rain becomes ocean bound. A cigarette butt thrown to the curbside can be swept out to sea because not all storm drains flow to a city wastewater treatment plant. 

Some drains flow straight to the river, and are often labeled with paint or a plaque that states it. Rain carries a cigarette butt into rivers that flow into the ocean faster than a street sweeper can deal with it. This is why neighborhood and river cleanups are vital to the prevention of marine debris. 

With folks stepping up in local communities, both coastal and inland, to lead the way for their local waterways and beaches, the Ocean Blue team can work remotely to guide the efforts without having to travel. Working remotely saves fuel, lowers overhead expenses, and allows more projects to take place in more communities. 

Women led businesses are also Ocean Blue supporters. Callee of Bestowed Essentials, an all-natural eco-friendly self care and home product company, has been donating a percent of sales to Ocean Blue every month for the last year. In collaboration with the local government, Bestowed Essentials sponsored a cleanup in Salem, Oregon last spring. The company has contributed to the removal of over 1,000 pounds of plastics and marine debris from our one world Ocean. 

Advancing Women Executives is an Annual Corporate Member of Ocean Blue. This means that along with taking part in the Create a Cleanup program, AWE chose to donate to the nonprofit in support of more cleanups and youth education on marine debris and the ocean plastic crisis. 

AWE and Bestowed Essentials are just two of many women owned and led businesses that reach out to support the Ocean, both through being Annual Corporate Members of Ocean Blue and by leading cleanup events in the local communities they serve. While Bestowed Essentials sponsored a cleanup in Salem, Oregon, AWE led an event at Venice Beach in Southern California earlier this year. 

Let’s keep this women-led environmental movement going strong. If you are feeling inspired by the efforts of Jenny Yu, Christen Enrich, AWE, or Bestowed Essentials, reach out to Create a Cleanup in your neighborhood or at your favorite beach or river spot. Since everything flows downstream, our Ocean is a reflection of our city streets. Men and women alike can work together to keep our Ocean Blue.

Say Goodbye to plastic shopping bags and start saving our waterways today. 

You may have plastic shopping bags in your home town however say goodbye to plastic bags in Nova Scotia and it's time to invest in your own reusable shopping bags today. 

Nova Scotia is one of the few Canadian provinces that are taking direct action to reduce the amount of plastic waste ending up in rivers and our landfill. Their provincial MLAs passed through legislation that bans single use plastic bags from grocery stores and other retailers in their province. 

This ban will change old habits to new habits and many will own their own shopping cotton bags rather then using single use throwaway bags that cause havoc on our environment. 

The majority Liberal government introduced this bill to ban single use plastic bags on September 26 and a month later passed on October 30, 2019. Many municipalities across Canada have banned single use plastic bags already but it's not common for the bags to be banned province-wide. 

It's time for the United States to follow this action and help save the Ocean from chocking on single use plastic. 

Worldwide, as many as one trillion plastic bags are used each year. This equates to 100 million barrels of oil! A 2015 study estimated more than 15 trillion pieces of plastic trash are in the ocean, and growing every year.

Support local nonprofits cleaning up our beaches, rivers, and our one world Ocean. 

​Other ways to reduce single use plastic is by buying Boxed Water over plastic water bottles and stock your car with reusable shopping bags and refillable water containers. Read more about plastic pollution facts by Ocean Blue.

Our communities and our shared environment are in desperate need of collaborative solutions. When we work together we can get the job done more efficiently and more sustainably. Many hands make light work and that is why Ocean Blue is calling on Portland area businesses and nonprofits to show up and collaborate for the causes we care about most. ​