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‘Splash mob’ targets Farmers’ Market to promote clean seas
By Ryan Pinkard For the Camera
Posted: 06/08/2013 05:29:51 PM MDT
Updated: 06/08/2013 05:30:55 PM MDT
By Ryan Pinkard For the Camera
Posted: 06/08/2013 05:29:51 PM MDT
Updated: 06/08/2013 05:30:55 PM MDT
At the height of the Boulder County Farmers’ Market rush hour late Saturday morning, within the bustling crowd of weekend shoppers, a small dance troupe suddenly emerged, dressed in blue and swirling ribbons of fabric to simulate ocean waves.
This “Splash Mob,” inspired by the flash mobs of YouTube popularity, was staged to raise awareness of the plight of the world’s seas for the mountain folk of Boulder.
Around the globe, Saturday, people celebrated World Oceans Day, a U.N.-designated holiday that honoring the bodies of water that connect everyone. In Boulder, the Colorado Ocean Coalition (COCO) performed its Splash Mob with the help of Teens4Oceans, Wild Bear Mountain Ecology Center and Streetside Dance Studios.
The message for Boulderites, as Vicki Goldstein said, was, “You don’t have to live near the ocean to protect it.”
As executive director of the Colorado Ocean Coalition, Goldstein is used to convincing citizens of a landlocked state to care about the fate of oceans.
“We’re all connected to the oceans, even if it’s harder to tell from here,” she said.
Goldstein explained that with oceans taking up 70 percent of the earth’s surface, their health has a profound effect on global climates, human food sources and the ecological systems below the water’s surface.
Today, there are five giant garbage patches in the world’s oceans, the largest of which is two times the size of the United States, according to Goldstein
“Animals now confuse broken down plastics for food,” Goldstein said, “This disruption in the food chain is causing widespread starvation and sickness.”
The Colorado Ocean Coalition aims to spur changes in policy and culture.
Among the things it says Coloradans can do to protect the ocean are buying local and organic foods to reduce carbon footprints and protect watersheds, and choosing sustainable seafood options to fight over-fishing and support weak ecosystems.
Along with Teens4Oceans, a Colorado nonprofit aimed at empowering the next generation of sea stewards, COCO recently visited Washington D.C. for the Blue Vision Summit for ocean policy initiatives, and to speak with Colorado senators and congressmen.
Colorado’s delegation was the second largest at the summit, only behind California.
“Senators (Michael) Bennet and (Mark) Udall were surprised to see such a large group from Colorado,” said Goldstein, “I think we really got their attention.”
Special thanks to Richard Charter