CURATOR VS CONSUMER | Curate the life you want to live

"Think of yourself as a curator rather than a consumer.” - Christine Koh

This statement could be taken in so many directions. We're not even sure what the woman who uttered it meant for us to take from it. It did get us thinking though. 

In a world where populations and temperatures are rising, for those of us thinking about what we can do to keep this planet breathing, you could say that the word Consumer has taken on a "dirty" connotation. If you look into early definitions of the word, it was used to describe "one who squanders or wastes." This noun comes of course from the verb Consume, whose etymology defines it as "to destroy by use, wear out by applying to its natural or intended use." If you break them down, these definitions actually are very interesting when applied to current society. Why? We explain.

The description of a Consumer here is in some ways the negative connotation to which we were referring. When you hear the word "consumerism," how many positive images come to mind? If you're like us, probably not many. Whatever the origin of the word, by the 1960s, consumerism had become an economic policy that "encouraged consumption."Without getting too political, we may draw the conclusion that this policy, this idea, encourages the spending of money regardless of the collateral costs, like the environment, with the sole interest of money making. That's a pretty generalized statement; that is not how everyone approaches it, and we're hopeful that there were some original good intentions about building strong economies for prosperous countries and happy citizens. But in the instances where this is true, it does relate to the definition that a consumer is "one who squanders or wastes." We think about the gag gifts, the items that are purchased just to be purchased, and forgotten about, the one-time-use items that are discarded after very limited time. Wasteful, is it not?

Looking then, to the above definition of Consume, at first glance it may reinforce this negative connotation. Look again. It says "..to wear out by applying to its natural or intended use." Think about everything nature creates. It is a closed-loop system, never creating anything it can't deal with, even if it takes a really long time. Everything that occurs naturally, has a natural or intended use. We as humans, have ended up manipulating naturally occurring elements into new substances (like plastic, styrofoam, chemical toxins, etc.) that cannot be broken down by nature (or at least, not in the lifetime that the Earth has). Some of these materials are created with practical intended uses, some are just byproducts of other processes. But sometimes the intended uses are damaging to our planet, especially if that use creates a wasteful byproduct that isn't biodegradable. What if, now and going forward, the first filter we applied to the creation of a new item was whether or not is also had a natural use? And by that we mean, it was compatible with nature; it was able to come from the Earth and go back to the Earth, in a relatively short time-span. 

Going back to the definition of Consume: if everything had a natural use in this way, as well as an intended use, then we could potentially reduce the amount of unnatural waste and garbage we create as a species, since we would be actually consuming things in the real sense of the word.

We know this is stretching things a little from where we started, but isn't it perhaps a beautiful way to turn something that has become so controversial, into something that is positive again?

Or perhaps, have we taken ourselves so far from the original intention of this word, that our behaviour is no longer fit for it, and to move forward, we need a new one?

Taking inspiration from Christine Koh's quote, what if we turned ourselves around, and started to think about ourselves more as curators? When you hear that word, most people would think of a museum or gallery curator who is in charge of collecting and guarding priceless pieces of art. Art tells a story, a story of the medium and of the artist. Do the way we live our lives not tell a story about us, about who we are? And do we not wish to only keep with us the precious things that are useful, beautiful, and tell a story about a life lived in dedication to health, love, and keeping our home and planet beautiful?

As we study past cultures, we learn about their lives from the house hold things they leave behind through material culture studies. All these items create a narrative that describes a lifestyle, a life. The way they cooked, cleaned, played, dressed, all tell us something about what they respected and valued. Think about this: if some future anthropologist or archeologist were to find your home relatively intact several hundred years from now, what story would it tell? Would it be one of mindful, sustainable living, or one that says you didn't care about the future generations of your planet?

"Objects can be seen as the blank slates upon which we project our needs, desires, ideas and values." -Material Culture - Artifact(s) and the Meaning They Carry, thoughtco.com

What do we want the things we have to say about us? What story are we telling? With this in mind, we can become curators in our own lives, taking care with the items we bring home. 

Every human is a unique expression of existence. No two people will ever experience a lifetime the same. We are all collectors of physical things, memories, stories, skills, languages. We get to choose which we need and which we don't. 

We can choose to live in a life that is curated, not cluttered. We do not exist only to consume, we are here to experience. Surround yourself with carefully chosen items that bring you joy, and that bring joy to our planet. (Think of this in terms of keeping things in your mind or not as well. Letting go, moving on, forgiving, growing.)

The items we create, that we choose, we hope to be part of a narrative that speaks of mindful living, ocean conservation, and sustainable practices. We want our story to inspire low-impact, responsible lifestyles now, and in the future. 

What do you want your story to be? You get to chose. 

from SALT Shop - Journal https://saltshop.ca/blogs/news/curator-vs-consumer

THYSELF | Loving You

When was the last time you made a date with yourself? Actually put it in your calendar and made time with yourself a priority? We often make plans with other people, but we can easily let slip spending time with ourselves, or at least time on ourselves. It might seem a little odd at first, but scheduling in time to take care of yourself can be necessary if we live the kind of lives that fill up quickly. Sound familiar?

Love is in the air - spread some of that sugar on yourself. Listen to yourself. If you need to turn off your phone for two hours and take a bubble bath, do it. If you need to pound out a 5 kilometre run after work, do it. If you need to go to the beach and just stare into the ocean for an hour, do it. Self-care looks different for everyone. Listen to your body and your mind, and do what is good for them. If you feel a whim, give it free reign until it has had it's fun, then stop and think for 90 seconds about whether it is a need or a want. Want isn't always the best option. What you need is really what serves you (and yes, we think that sometimes you can need chocolate).

Self-care is an ongoing practice. It helps to set yourself up with a good base. If you haven't considered this before, it's not too late. Communicating clear boundaries helps define what you need and how others in your life can respect that. This is important in all your relationships, especially intimate personal connections and with work.

Families are a great source of support to allow each other to take this time. Parents - you are a team, you are a solid source of strength for one another. It is so important to let each other know when you need a little extra help. You are both responsible for raising the new little humans you created, and you are both entitled to need your own space. So help each other out. If schedules are your jam, make one and try to stick to it as best you can. We know that every week might look a little different, but if the expectation is set then you're both less likely to skip out or forget. If less structure suits you better, make sure you are both comfortable communicating to each other when you need an all-alone time-out, and commit to doing what you can to make that happen. If you are a single-parent, lean on your friends and family for the help you need. You never know until you ask! Bonus: Your kids seeing you making these healthy choices for yourselves will instil those kinds of habits in them, making them happier, healthier humans.

Few things are more stressful than feeling like you always have to be available for work, leaving little room in your schedule to freely enjoy personal time. Creating a Work/Life balance is integral to making space for your mental health. Being clear with those in your workplace about what their expectations are for you will set everyone up for healthy, happy work and home time. With all the technology we have available to us these days, it is tough to be unreachable. Setting boundaries like only communicating about work via e-mail, or phone calls, not on texts, helps avoid blurring the lines between personal and work time. There will be periods when needing to be fully involved in work at most hours of the day is unavoidable, that is reality. When those instances arise, having already had the conversation about expectations will make it easier to address the times you lose track of your boundaries as they come up. 

 

Chances are you know what you want your own self-care to look like. It could be one big item, or lots of smaller things. Sleep. Hug. Listen to music. Drink water. Move your body. Breathe fresh air. Wear clothes you love. Light a candle. Treat yourself to a little luxury, whatever that looks like to you. You don't have to splurge all the time. Set aside a few small favourite items, like the sustainably made bath soak or face masque you can't get enough of, or an outfit your feel especially comfortable or sexy in (could be the same one!), and make them part of your "self-care toolkit." Using products with natural ingredients that your skin can actually understand will leave you much more relaxed, and you'll feel good knowing you're not letting synthetic chemicals seep into your bloodstream. Having them on hand makes it much easier to carve out some spontaneous self-care for life's unexpected moments. As for the big splurges, save up for them and go for it on days you need a little extra, or make them part of celebrating achievements that you are proud of yourself for.

The hardest part of self-care for a lot of us, is believing we are worth it. We feel we could spend that time, that money, on someone else. We feel we could put it to better use. Maybe. However, being a cheerleader for yourself doesn't mean you have to compromise on being supportive of your loved ones. Your favourite self-care activities may even involve them, especially if quality time with your bests is high on your list of needs. Plus, taking care of yourself is one of the greatest things you can do for those who depend on you, so you can show up the best version of yourself that you know how to be.

Love yourself first.

from SALT Shop - Journal https://saltshop.ca/blogs/news/thyself-loving-you

ZERO WASTE BATHROOMS | Natural, Minimal, Clean

Bathrooms. Usually not the biggest rooms in the house, but somewhere that takes up a lot of our time and attention. For a smaller room, it sure does seem to require a lot. Things to keep it clean, things to keep ourselves clean. When you think about it, most of our self-inflicted "maintenance" happens in the bathroom, which means we need more things to maintain it, meaning more possibility for waste. But, does it have to be this way? We bet that if you polled households, the bathroom would be where we all have the most unnecessary items. So what are we to do?

DIY

We have come a long way from the raw ingredients that are active in our cleaning, cleansing, and beauty products. But why? There are many naturally occurring ( or at least more naturally concocted) ingredients like baking soda, tea tree oil, coconut oil, raw honey, apple cider vinegar, cocoa butter, Castile soap, and more that have some truly awesome intrinsic properties. There are loads of great recipes out there for using these items to make your own bathroom cleaner, face wash, toothpaste, lip balm, lotion, and nearly everything else you need in the bathroom (make-up gets more challenging, but it's out there!).

For cleaning, you can easily replace those bottles of toxic chemicals by purchasing a glass spray bottle and making your own all purpose bathroom cleaner, like this one. When it comes to beauty products, ranging from cleansers to moisturizers, the industry has been trending towards more natural options for years now anyhow (a lot of which comes from the ability the internet gives us to share homemade recipes). It makes sense - our skin is a natural, living organism, it is going to respond better when we put natural things on it. Plus, anything we put on our skin ends up in our bloodstream, and our bodies are much happier without chemicals in it as well. Opting for simple oil-based moisturizers, cleansers, and deodorants will take the chemicals out of your beauty routine, and reduce the number of one-time use containers coming out of the bathroom.

Once you've started your DIY journey, you will discover a list of ingredients that are helpful in a multitude of homemade items. Then you can purchase them in larger quantities with re-useable glass containers, reducing the waste from buying everything individually. If you are looking to educate yourself on what types of basic ingredients are useful to have on hand to create these kinds of items, take a read of this list on Live Simply, a blog dedicated to natural wellness on many levels. 

GO NATURAL

You've got to admire those who take on the task of creating their own products - it takes time and research. Not everyone is up for it though - and that's ok. We can still make good choices when it comes to getting the things we need. Look for locally made, natural brands to start when it comes to the necessary products, and from there, stay as natural as possible when it comes to ingredients, materials, and packaging. Read all the labels!

Aside from the actual ingredients in things, the tools and accessories you need to keep your bathroom and your body tip top are fraught with choices, many of which are plastic. You have to think not just about the ingredients in your items, but the materials of the storage options they require. A good rule of thumb is if it includes plastic, don't even look at it. Having re-useable glass containers on hand and shopping at bulk stores like West Coast Refill in Victoria is a much better option than grabbing products at the grocery store in one-time use plastic containers.

One-life soap pumps can be replaced with a mason jar that you re-fill and top with a metal pump. If you are a bar soap person, soap dishes look much better when they are wood, stone, or ceramic anyways. Brushes (for those of us who don make-up everyday, there could be many!) may feel like one that is tricky to go natural with, but it's not. Companies like Iris Hantverk offer wood options with natural fibre bristles for almost any use - toothbrush, toilet brush, body brush, hair brush, and scrub brushes for all applications. Dental products are actually some of the hardest to recycle because they often use a combination of materials. We love David's All Natural Toothpaste with their easily recyclable metal tube combined with a wood toothbrush.

Razors are another big culprit - so much plastic every time you toss away a disposable razor! And so hard to recycle! Switching to a safety razor, with a metal handle and replaceable blade is much more environmentally friendly. Worried about switching to a new way of shaving? Watch these videos for your face and other areas for first timer tips. It might take some getting used to, but it will be worth it!

Check the tags on any towels or cloths before you bring them home too. 100% cotton is always best, for function and for the planet, and you might assume all towels will be, but it is good to make sure. Staying informed about the items you are using is half the battle to begin with. Reducing plastic is an obvious one, but there are other things to avoid as well!

MINIMIZE 

Just have less. Everyone is buzzing about Marie Kondo's Netflix show Tidying Up inspired by the book she wrote about the magic of decluttering your home. Get on the bandwagon and start pairing down your bathroom items. Most of us at some point in life have had one of those drawers that is full of items we rarely use. How did they get there? Why do we have so many? You've heard of the 80/20 rule for clothing - that we usually wear only 20% of our clothes, 80% of the time? See if you can apply that to your bathroom as well. You don't have to toss the other 80%, but make a note not to re-purchase them once they've run out. 

Everyone has a different routine, a different body. We are all going to need different ingredients in our products to suit our skin types. But when it comes to the bathroom, we will all have relatively the same list of needs, and if we are really honest with ourselves (and our households), we could easily pair things down to the essentials (and say goodbye to cluttered drawers!).

The last step in all of this is to be responsible with the items that are still "left over." Make sure things like razor blades and containers are getting recycled properly.

We know that getting to completely zero-waste might be tricky, but with these changes, you can get pretty close. It will be a journey. Take stock of what you have in your bathroom now, and once each item comes to the end of it's life, vow to re-assess what a more sustainable option going forward will be. Your body, your home, and your planet will thank you.

Shop our plastic-free home goods in-store, and online anytime. Check out these other inspiring sites for tips, tricks, recipes, sustainable shopping, and information.

Going Zero Waste & Live Simply & Life Without Plastic

from SALT Shop - Journal https://saltshop.ca/blogs/news/zero-waste-bathrooms

HOMEBODIES | Turning In

When the sun is constantly shining and warming our outside world, we tend to make plans with friends outdoors. Camping, hiking, BBQing. On the West Coast, our winter may not be bitingly frigid the way it is in many parts of Canada, but it is still dark and wet. It's that time of year when you are waking up and going home in the dark (in this hemisphere anyways). 

This atmosphere compels us to turn to our indoor spaces to spend much of our time. Our fireplaces and our favourite blankets become our closest companions. We tend to spend more time alone, or more time with just the people that live in our homes. We talk a lot about home. What makes a home? What sustains a home? We think that undoubtably the most popular answer would be the people in your home. The family and friends that you co-habit with, or have visit you. That is true.

We feel that your home can also be a statement about who you are. It doesn't have to be one that jumps out like a flashing neon sign. However, what you have visible in your home will represent you no matter what. How we live speaks volumes to what we value and how those values influence our lifestyles. Looking around a home, you could probably deduce if someone is a conscious consumer, or one of convenience. If they prioritize trendy over longevity, want over need, accessibility over sustainability. 

We love home decor that is not only beautiful and functional, but has a story, a good one. Behind every item you can hold, wear, touch, is a story of the creator. Someone had to make it. Someone put thought and effort into it.

For example, creating our SALT candles, an item we tackled for the first time this past winter, was a journey of thoughtful decisions. Firstly, we knew we wanted them to be produced locally, so a collaboration with Salt Spring Island Candle Co. was the obvious answer (a company who has a story all unto themselves). The questions went on from there. What scents did we want? What did we want them to convey in a home? What ingredients did that mean? What receptacle did we want them to be in? How could we make that as sustainable as possible? What did we want to name them? More thought than you might think! In the end, we decided on 3 scents that combine 100% essential oils with 100% soy wax to create an ambiance of refreshment, calm, and natural environments. The names of each scent pay homage to the West Coast, evoking thoughts of the ocean and the areas we so desperately want to keep safe. Plus, the glass we chose is actually a whiskey glass, and at the end of the life of the candle, can be cleaned out and used in the kitchen again and again. All these details were part of the process, part of the story. We love knowing that when they are burning brightly in a home, these are the kinds of details the owner can share with their guests.

Or consider anything we have that is made by Convivial Production, like their Riveted Mug, that brings us so much warmth in the mornings. All their items are sustainably created by hand with the intention of bringing people together. With their timeless style and geometric lines, we can't imagine their pieces not being conversation starters.

Anything you bring into your home could become a conversation piece. Why not ensure that those conversations revolve around sustainable production, mindful consumption, and taking pride in supporting local stores and small batch artisans? We're not saying your living room has to be a political statement loaded with challenging questions for your guests, but combining comfort and style, with conscious consumption is an easy way to lead by example when it comes to being mindful of how your purchases impact our planet.

The items you collect speak to who you are and how you make decisions. There are so many areas in your home where you can represent a conscious lifestyle. In your kitchen, choosing sustainable options for your pan brushes like ones from Iris Hantverk, instead of plastic. Keeping cloth napkins and dishcloths on hand, instead of relying on the one-time use rolls of paper towel. In other parts of the home, frame personal photos or hang locally done art on your walls instead of generic prints. All these details will add up to a home that is unique, thoughtful, and stands for going beyond just what is convenient or trendy.

Even though the darkness may propel us to spend more time at home, in cozy spaces away from the cold, we encourage you to welcome people into your space at least a few times over the next few months. Connecting together over good food and good company is part of creating and maintaining community. Doing it in a space that you love makes it that much better.

Shop sustainable home decor, and comfortable style for at home, online or in-store anytime.  

from SALT Shop - Journal https://saltshop.ca/blogs/news/homebodies

LIFE WITHOUT PLASTIC | Can We Do It?

 

Have you ever tried to count how many times you touch plastic in a day? Try it. If you live a conscious lifestyle and make an effort to eliminate plastic in your home, it might not be as many times as it could be. But if you leave your home, you have less control over coming into contact with it. And what about your car? What about every time you use something electronic, use running water, use a washroom? 

And you have to think not only about the ingredients of the items you are using, but what was used to produce them as well. So even if the final product is plastic-free, what about the tools or machines that were used to make it? Unless it is a handmade item made from a sustainable substance, chances are that at least some plastic went into the process used in it's production.

This musing got us wondering "What if plastic was never invented? Would our lives really be that much harder?" The honest answer for a lot of people would be yes. In the last roughly 100 years since plastics have become more popular, it has become a part of nearly everything we do. 

We feel like National Geographic highlights this issue succinctly.

"Versatile, pliable, durable, cheap to produce - and ubiquitous....It is also both a life-saving miracle product and the scourge of the Earth." -National Geographic, Fast facts about plastic pollution

 

There isn't anything quite like it. Currently, plastic has many modern uses that we depend on quite heavily. Uses in home production, medicine, transportation, electronics, large scale agriculture, and getting just about any kind of modern service (like internet and running water) to our homes and businesses. The way we have integrated plastics into these products and systems, it would be nearly impossible to turn back the clock.

We could argue that many of these things could be done without plastic by using other substances like glass and metal, things that can more easily be recycled and reused. But does that argument stand in all these instances? What about medicine? Our current medical system makes an overwhelming amount of waste with their dependence on single use plastic items. Yes, things like metal, glass, and ceramics used to be the only options and we made due, but we also had issues with sterilization and operated at a lower level of technical acuity.

Now, the way our health care systems are structured and with the sheer number of people that need access to them, it really isn't feasible to revert to these other options (is it??). The repercussions to the system simply couldn't handle it, it could put people's lives at risk. But eventually, our Earth won't be able to handle all the waste we are creating. So what is our answer here?

To all of the questions this conversation raises, there is no simple solution. The reality seems to be that when we created plastics and integrated them into our lives to the point of dependency, we were not yet equipped with the policies we needed in place to deal with them responsibly, and we still aren't. We took things from the Earth (natural gas, oil, coal) that were probably never meant to be messed with and turned them into polymers and other substances that nature didn't intend to create. Nature is a closed-loop system - it never creates something it can't, at the end of it's life, repurpose. It's biology, it's physics, it's life. There is something arguably unnatural about the way we live now, even though we are a natural species. Like we have come too far, and we can't find our way home.

What would be great, would be if all plastics produced could be done so in a way where they could be broken down and/or recycled infinitely. Research and investment is happening to develop alternate forms of plastics, like starch-based, and cellulose-based plastics, hopefully resulting in bioplastics that are not only recyclable, but biodegradable. We look forward to delving into those results more in the future.

For now, as always, we encourage everyone to keep these thoughts in mind; consume consciously and make more sustainable choices when it comes to, well, everything. Read labels, ask questions, and make a stand for only purchasing sustainable "alternatives." Realistically, everything we use is going to be depleting some kind of resource, is going to have some impact. As a species, we can't avoid it; there are too many of us! But we can choose things that won't live on the Earth forever; things we can clean and melt down and re-purpose. Items that will eventually break down and return to their source and become something new. We would like the world to get to a place where instead of these items being thought of as plastic alternatives, they are just the norm. We were there once, and we're even more developed now; hopefully we can use that to our advantage.

 

Really, when we dispose of something without being responsible, or buy something without thinking about where the waste from it is going to end up, we are essentially saying that the lives of those that will live after us, human, animal, and otherwise, are less important than our own. And we all know, that is never true.

This discussion is complicated and could be taken in many different directions. This year we will be looking at many ways that plastic impacts our planet and our lifestyles, what is being done about it, and how we can be better. We hope you will follow along, offer your input, and be inspired to be a part of the movement to keep our Earth safe. 

Shop plastic alternatives like Goldilocks Wraps, Dans le Sac, Falcon Enamelware, and Iris Hantverk in-store and online.

from SALT Shop - Journal https://saltshop.ca/blogs/news/life-without-plastic-can-we-do-it

BONNETIER | La vie de chalet

When you're looking for cozy, where do you start? Top down, or bottom up? It could be different every day, depending on what you're doing. If you're living the "chalet life" having toasty toes are going to be a big priority. There is nothing worse than shredding the slopes worrying about frozen extremities when you should be focused on your next turn or jump. 

We figure that Isabelle Marcotte and Henry Cho never have this problem. They are the duo behind Canadian made Bonnetier. For those not well versed en Français, this translates to "hosier", the original definition being one who concerned themselves with the creation of legware. The founders were no doubt intrigued by the craftsmanship and history of the term, and the profession, and it's links to advancements in clothing production. In the Our Story section on their website, they site references made to the involvement of early hosier's in the development of technical weaving and the invention of the sock itself. An admirable thing then, to pay homage to. 

"We chose this name because it recalls the work of the craftsman and the pride of a job well done, but it also reminds us of the innovation behind it all. " -Bonnetier

As the name suggests, the company concerns itself with a myriad of high quality socks that will keep more than your toes warm. Their line also delves into "... a collection of outdoor clothing made of merino wool..." and a number of "...funky t-shirts." The tees are screen printed by hand in Montreal with graphics and words inspiring thoughts of ski hills and French-Canadian winters. All the inks used are environmentally friendly water-based options, and every item is completed locally in Montreal. It is important to the founders to support as many other local businesses as possible in the production of their items, and to reduce their environmental footprint in the process, a commitment we commend. 

Bonnetier creates for outdoor enthusiasts, the ones who are pushing limits and need clothing that will keep up with them. They use a variety of fibres, with the most heavily touted being Merino Wool. This naturally occurring fleecy wool is quite the substance. Lightweight, odour resistant, and much less itchy than other wools. It also has an amazing ability to wick moisture away from you when you are hot, and use moisture to keep you warm when it's cold. It's also machine washable and dries quickly. To source their EMAS certified wool, Bonnetier works with a farm in New Zealand who treats their animals ethically and let them run free.

 

At SALT, we admire a company that brings forward lessons from history into our modern society. You may hear expressions these days about how things used to be made, how they stood the test of time longer. Getting back to the simple processes is something we aspire to, as they are usually the ones that are best for our planet. With less muddling of natural items, the longevity of the inputs don't lose their integrity and function the way nature intended them to - in a closed-loop cycle. From Earth, to Earth, and around they go again. 

From Bonnetier, we choose to carry a few styles of socks that fit in with our pallet and our philosophy. They are often the most popular items picked up by guests for gifts, or by the people who receive them, fall in love, and have to come back for more. Find them on our website here, or in store at our Salt Spring Island or Victoria locations.

from SALT Shop - Journal https://saltshop.ca/blogs/news/bonnetier

THALASSOPHILE | Lover of the Sea

Bare toes squish the wet sand. The swish, swoosh, swish, of the waves keeping time like a heartbeat, like the Earth breathing in and out. As far as you can gaze, the sea stretches into blueness, and falls away over the curve of the horizon.

The Ocean. It holds so much power, which sometimes bursts forth in ways that remind us how much respect it deserves. It talks to the moon, locked in a never ending push and pull that gives us tides. Is there anything on Earth so mysterious? The sheer size of it alone begs so many questions, hides so many secrets. We will never unlock all it has to offer.  

The ocean is what makes our planet different from every other one in our solar system. That is pretty special. For 4 billion years, it has been shaping our planet. Without it, we wouldn't have the lush greenery of the land we call home. Something worth saving, we imagine everyone would have to agree?

Last year, we at SALT really solidified our commitment to the deep blue sea. As we look across the horizon of a new year, we know that the clock is ticking on the health and survival of our oceans. Humans are simply too hard on the planet. Whether it's an argument of our lifestyles, our lack of regulations, or any number of the other factors that could be argued are the worst contributors to the devastation of our seas, there is much to be done to keep our oceans safe.

As Canadians (and humans), what we are most concerned with when it comes to our oceans and what we want to see done about it is going to vary from person to person, taking into account our individual opinions and education on such matters. The Canadian Federal Government's Department of Fisheries and Oceans looks at marine conservation and regulation from many angles, which we could discuss and debate at length (To learn about all the work they do, visit their website and explore what initiatives they are taking on). One item that caught our eye was the discussion around Marine Protected Areas (MPA). An MPA is "A clearly defined geographical space recognized, dedicated and managed, through legal or other effective means to achieve the long-term conservation of nature with associated ecosystem services and cultural values." (MPA Network). At this time, they are working to protect more of the ocean around our country under this definition and the regulations that go along with it.

The pursuit of this strategy is supported by WWF-Canada, as well as other conservation organizations, lobbyists, and additional stakeholders including the Province of British Columbia and several First Nations. Recently, WWF-Canada urged the Federal Government to move quickly with their plans for MPAs, based on the recommendations laid out in the National Advisory Panel on Marine Protected Area Standards. These recommendations come from a report that this body produced after being established in the Spring of 2018. The below quote indicates what is contained in the report.

"The Panel makes 13 recommendations to the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard.  Recommendations focus on minimum protection standards in federal marine protected areas, including Oceans Act Marine Protected Areas and marine refuges established by Fisheries and Oceans Canada, National Marine Conservation Areas established by Parks Canada, and National Wildlife Areas established by Environment and Climate Change Canada.  It also makes recommendations on better engagement, stronger governance, and robust MPA planning, on the emerging concept of Indigenous Protected Areas, and on marine spatial planning." (www.newswire.ca)

It takes some time to implement these strategies, so in the interim, the first step the government has proposed is their ‘Freeze the Footprint’ idea. Via a Ministerial order, this essentially means no increase in human activities other than ongoing activities in a certain area so that no further damage is done, while “…further science, consultations, risk assessments, and socio-economic and ecological overviews…” are conducted with the intention of having a resolution within 5 years. 

That is all well and good, but we must agree with the plea from WWF-Canada to expedite this process as quickly as possible. There is just too much damage done every day.  

Why are we talking about what our government is doing? We can all agree that with great leadership can come great change. What the government is doing matters. It matters whether they are doing a good job, or have room for improvement, and it matters that we are aware of what they are prioritizing. The more initiative we see taken by our elected leaders, the more we can hope that lasting regulatory change will happen, if we, as stakeholders, use our voices to support their best initiatives. 

So what about us? Aside from continuing on our pursuit of a lifestyle that encourages mindful, sustainable living, we don't yet know what initiatives we will pursue this year for marine conservation, but we know we want to get as many people involved as possible. Perhaps a series of beach clean ups, or the sponsorship of a Seabin. We definitely will be making use of our new space in Victoria to have events that bring awareness to issues challenging our oceans and funds to the marine conservation organizations that we believe in, especially ones that all operating close to home. We are excited to dive into planning and we will keep you updated!

The conversation of what is to be done is one we have mused over before. In the past year, we have focused more on what you can do as an individual to help protect and conserve our oceans. This year, we want the breadth of those efforts to multiply. As much as we believe that our individual every day choices make a collective positive impact, garnering the interest of our peers to join us would make a bigger, better impact. Leading by example is a great place to start, and beyond that, the tides of change only grow stronger.

Everyone has a cause that is dear to their heart. Ours happens to be the salty waters of the ocean. Asking for support from friends, family, and beyond is not an unreasonable request. They have the choice to say no. However, if we all lend a hand even just now and then to the cause's that we care for, the load will get lighter with every hand lifted.

from SALT Shop - Journal https://saltshop.ca/blogs/news/thalassophile