Oceans of Optimism

Welcome to October’s edition of Oceans of Optimism! It may be the spookiest of months but have no fear; we’re giving you no tricks, only treats and good vibes. So shut yourself off from the bad news and political turmoil for a bit, and enjoy our monthly good news roundup to shake off the scaries and lift your spirits!

Here are City to Sea we’re huge fans of kelp. So we were pretty stoked to hear of SUPER forests like the one surrounding The Great Southern Reef in Australia, which stretches a whopping 5,000 miles across the continent’s coast! These forests play a vital role in our global carbon cycle absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and have been found to absorb CO2 30x faster than trees on land! They also have the potential to aid the world’s food security and create products as varied as ice cream, so these multitasking superstars of the oceans are vital for innovation to overcome issues we currently face!

Setting a new example in environmental corporate leadership, the owner of Patagonia is giving the entire company away to fight the Earth’s climate devastation. last month the company announced, “As of now, Earth is our only shareholder”. Rather than exploiting natural resources, the company’s new direction aims to set an example of making protecting our planet the number one corporate goal rather than profit. 98% of profits shall go to a non-profit called the Holdfast Collective, and the other 2% to a trust, which will oversee the company’s mission and values. We hope that Patagonia leads the way for big corporations to help make a significant impact in protecting our Earth.

The global leader Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) has altered its shipping lanes to avoid the habitat of Blue Whales and other cetaceans living and feeding in the waters off the coast of Sri Lanka, a major step in marine life conservation from the shipping company. The decision was based on research surveys from the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), with the World Trade Institute (WTI), Biosphere Foundation, and University of Ruhuna (Sri Lanka), and supported by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The findings suggest that the move could reduce the strike risk to blue whales by a whopping 95%. What whaley great news!

This week, the Albanian government committed to protecting the Vjosa river and its tributaries by creating Europe’s first wild river national park. Often labelled as Europe’s ‘last wild river,’ it runs for 170 miles across Albania to the Adriatic Sea, and campaigning groups have been calling for this safeguarding move for years. We want to see more stories like this of river protecting around the world! Well done Albania for recognising how important rivers are to our eco systems.

Last month we celebrated the anniversary of our 4-day working week. Catapult a whole year on from where we first started and we’ve proudly been accredited as a ‘Gold Standard’ four-day week employer under the 4 Day Week Campaign’s accreditation scheme! Not only that, but we also came up top in this year’s Escape 100 list, so in addition to enjoying this fame and glory, thanks to working a shorter week we’re also more productive and are achieving a greater work-life balance. Cheers to that!