I attended the Ocean Heroes BootCamp last summer in Vancouver Canada. It was a huge gathering of kids ages 11-18 and maybe some even older. I was happy to see so many kids and teens being active for the environment – especially against plastic and for the ocean. Sometimes I felt very sad after hearing the statistics about pollution and how sick the earth and the Oceans are.
No matter how huge the problems are, I have decided to keep on sharing solutions. I have videos on my VIDEO page. Lately my friend, Ella, has been working on solution videos with me. Each of us can be part of the solution.
Julia Alvarado, age 11, November 2019
After my Aunt Judy Shasek told me about Ocean Heroes Bootcamp I decided that I should go to learn more about the earth and how I can save it. My aunt nominated me and i was accepted. I was so glad that my mom, Michelle, was able to go with me. There was a sort of camp that parents went to while the kids did their own things.
- I was already doing some things in my community. You can read about them on my BLOG links.
For over a year I have spoken at a lot of events and schools. I made videos and I tried to have everyone join my snowball of solutions. My first video showed how how one piece of trash that was left on the mountain can go into the ocean.
- Some of the sessions at Boot Camp were long. Most were very interesting and I learned a lot. I learned that all the plastic ever created still exists and too much is now broken down into micro plastic. There are 8 trillion tons of plastic in the ocean. My favorite part was visiting the aquarium.
Shelby O’Neil who did the No Straw November campaign in Monterey – was my favorite presenter.
I also learned how to make my pitch better. I made another video with my mom about a local sports shop was inspired by my Snowball of solutions campaign and swapped out plastic for cans and reusable bottles instead of selling drinks in plastic. They use powder for sports drinks. I was asked to speak at the conservation summit in September to a community audience at the college. I’ve always been comfortable speaking in public. I like to be able to use that skill – and my theater and video skills – to inspire others.
