SHIFTING THE WAY WE FEEL, THINK AND ACT WILL CHANGE THE WORLD
North Devon Marine project friend – Emily Penn, created SHiFT to help people find their role in solving the world’s most pressing issues.The SHiFT Platform is built on the power of collaboration and celebrates a wide range of solutions from different organisations and businesses. From simple consumer choices, to more complex industry actions, SHiFT enables people to explore ideas that create long term change. Essentially, stopping ocean plastic at the source is key.
Emily’s philosophy towards life has been shaped by spending over a decade out at sea, where you are constantly reacting to the changes around you. The wind picks up, the waves change direction, and you have to respond, you have to shift your sails, shift your course. For Emily, that shift led her from a career in architecture to one dedicated to solving the issue of ocean plastic pollution. The more time Emily spent at sea, the more she realised the solutions start on land. Through her workshops, curated experiences and sailing expeditions she’s worked with individuals, businesses and governments around the world to develop solutions, from sea to source. She’s certainly had a huge impact on North Devon Marine, Wayne helped prepare the ocean research yacht for eXXpedition, of which Emily is co-founder and director. That project was a major inspiration for Wayne, sending us all down an exciting path.
eXXpedition takes everyday individuals to the most remote parts of the planet, to connect with the challenges facing our ocean, primarily focusing on ocean plastics. eXXpedition is a Community Interest Company and not-for-profit organisation that has launched pioneering all-female sailing research expeditions at sea to investigate the causes of and solutions to ocean plastic pollution. Their mission? To help people understand the true ocean plastic and toxic pollution problem, so they can use their skills to solve it from sea to source.
The mission goes further, and tackles some other pretty engrained issues:
Unseen women – There is a lack of diversity in gender and race role models in both STEM professions and in exploration and sporting events. They assemble crews of inspiring female role models and help address the balance.
Unseen pollution – There is an evidence base building that environmental exposure from chemicals associated with plastics and pollution is impacting women’s health. They better understand the links between the health of the environment and our bodies.
Unseen solutions – Trying to clean up ocean plastic won’t work alone. What’s needed is multidisciplinary action working from every angle to explore solutions that stem the flow of plastic at the source, before it reaches the sea, in new and innovative ways.
Head to the eXXpedition and SHiFT websites, to see how you too can create positive change.
