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What's Your Ocean Connection?

by
Bill Whorton

No matter where we live, we’re all connected to the ocean.

The Get Green Video Contest is asking U.S. high school students to Show Us Your Ocean Connection. Planet Connect, an online social network where high school students can learn about current environmental issues, wants students to make a 30 -120 second video and show us how your everyday actions impact the ocean, whether you live on the coast or 1,000 miles from the sea. We want students to get their video cameras ready and to be creative to win cash or other great prizes from Samsung, including the Galaxy Tab and an HD Camcorder.

Need more info on how we are all connected to the ocean? Don’t live near a coast? Humans impact the ocean in a variety of ways, including through pollution, climate change and overfishing.

Check out these ocean facts:

  • The ocean covers 71 percent of the Earth’s surface (an area of about 140 million square miles) and contains 97 percent of the planet’s water.
  • Water from 31 states drains into the Mississippi River - which then leads to the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean.
  • Plastic waste kills up to 1 million sea birds, 100,000 sea mammals and countless fish each year. Plastic remains in our ecosystem for years harming thousands of sea creatures everyday.
  • The Deepwater Horizon oil spill released more than 211 million gallons of light, sweet crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico.
  • The oil slick produced by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill covered as much as 28,958 square miles (75,000 square kilometers), an area about the size of South Carolina.

Entries accepted until February 23, 2011. The first 100 entrants will receive a free re-usable Eco Falls water bottle!

See all of the contest details here: http://www.planetconnect.org/2011getgreen

In addition to showing the connection we all have with the oceans, students can visit Planet Connect to learn more about funding opportunities, green colleges and environmental careers. Students can also share and exchange ideas about how they are playing a critical role in solving today’s environmental issues.

We know students can make a difference. Here’s their chance to inspire others now!