ECOmmittee & Earth to Oceans

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ECOmmittee & Earth to Oceans

A celebration powered by Mote's ECOmmittee

At Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium, living the dream means going green—make that blue-green!

Please join us by taking eco-friendly action during Mote’s Earth to Oceans Celebration, spanning the seven weeks between Earth Day and World Oceans Day, 2021.

How to participate: Follow Mote on Facebook to enjoy a new Earth to Oceans theme each week from April 19-June 6. We’ll offer fun inspiration and tips for your blue-green life, and we’ll share what Mote’s internal ECOmmittee is doing to help our nonprofit take great care of our blue planet.

Week 6 (May 24-30)

We're all about water conservation this week!

What you can do: Save water at home by taking shorter showers, fixing toilets that are running due to a leak, landscaping with drought-tolerant native plants, waiting to run your dishwasher until it's full, and taking other steps such as those suggested by the Environmental Protection Agency.
What Mote is doing: Many of the plants on our campus are native species, and we’re adding more all the time. Many of these are drought tolerant, requiring much less water than other plants. We also use rain barrells to capture rainwater for later use. On the science-y side of things, Mote researchers have developed water recycling technology for sustainable fish farming!
Week 6 is brought to you by: The North American river otter!

Week 5 (May 17-23)

Here comes the sun...fish! We're learning about solar energy!

What you can do: Learn about alternative energy. Even if you can’t go fully solar right now, try building your own solar oven, using only natural light for one day a month, and saving energy by unplugging appliances when not in use.
What Mote’s doing: Mote’s solar panels supply sustainable energy to help support our marine research and animal care. The system here can offset 82,000 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions per year — equal to saving more than 4,600 gallons of gas.
Week 5 is brought to you by: The sunfish!

Week 4 (May 10-16):

This week is all about alternative transportation!

On average, modern battery-powered electric vehicles produce less than half the greenhouse gases that comparable gasoline vehicles do.

What you can do: Drive electric if you can. If not, try saving gas by carpooling, using public transportation or trying tips from: fueleconomy.gov
What Mote's doing: We offer electric vehicle charging stations on our campus for visitors and staff.
Week 4 is brought to you by: The electric eel!

Week 3 (May 3-9):

This week, we're learning about compost!

More than 30% of what we throw away is food and yard waste that could, instead, be composted to help our gardens grow!

What Mote’s doing: On our campus in Sarasota, Florida, we host and manage compost bins for our staff/volunteers and work with partners to host a community compost bin!
What you can do: Learn how to compost at home from sources such as the Environmental Protection Agency. Locally, check out: SunshineCommunityCompost.org
Week 3 is brought to you by: The queen conch!
(The Queen of Conch-post, that is.)

Week 2 (April 26-May 2):

This week, we're learning to reduce, reuse, recycle and refuse!

What Mote's doing: We reuse and refuse disposable items when we can, and we recycle paper, plastic, aluminum and other items such as old computer equipment. We continually seek to divert trash from landfills and give old stuff new life.
What you can do: Learn what can and can't be recycled locally (some plastics can't be recycled everywhere). One great place to start: Visit the website of your local waste management program.
Week 2 is brought to you by: the remora!
(Get it? reduce, reuse, recycle, refuse, remora!)

Week 1 (April 19-25):

This week, we’re tackling plastic pollution!

Litter in the ocean threatens marine animals. Mote and partners have found plastic in the digestive systems of sea turtles and even whales.

What Mote's doing: Our staff pick up litter during Hump Day Dump Day, a quarterly team event on Wednesdays (Hump Days).
What you can do: Challenge yourself to pick up a few pieces of litter each day. Attend or host a cleanup event.
Week 1 is brought to you by: the humpback whale!