NAMEPA Partners with Fairfield Chemical Carriers to celebrate World Ocean Day through a Waterway Cleanup
June 15, 2021: On June 8th, The North American Marine Environment Protection Association (NAMEPA) partnered with their member Fairfield Chemical Carriers (FCC) to celebrate World Ocean Day through a waterway cleanup. In 2008, the United Nations declared June 8th as World Ocean Day in order to recognize the vital human connection with the ocean and the value it provides to all life on Earth. It is a day to raise awareness about the need to protect the ocean and the responsibility that each individual has on maintaining its health. Furthermore, as climate change continues to degrade and alter the environment, this day is more important than ever to raise urgency on the importance of making sustainable choices, working to protect the ocean, and on how our daily actions impact the ocean ecosystem. NAMEPA is proud to be partnering with Fairfield Chemical Carriers to help Save Our Seas.
Despite the challenges COVID-19 has posed, the UN virtually hosted this year’s World Ocean Day, with a theme of “The Ocean: Life and Livelihoods.” The theme illuminated how crucial the ocean is in sustaining human physical, cultural, and economic life as well as the life of all species (UN, 2021). This year’s theme was especially important as it was the lead up to the UN’s “Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development” where, from 2021-2030, the UN will work to strengthen international involvement in oceanic scientific research and technology (UN, 2021). World Ocean Day 2021 fell at a time when the world was, and still is, facing devastating health and climatic issues, making it a critical time for the global community to unite and work to protect our ocean.
At 1pm on June 8th, NAMEPA, Fairfield Chemical Carriers, and a contact from the City of Nowalk, Luis Estrella, met in Norwalk for a brief overview and safety instructions. They then split into groups to clean up areas along the Norwalk River at 40 Cross Street as well as Veteran’s Park and Marina. The cleanup was very successful with a lot of trash collected, ranging from cigarette butts to soda cans, and even a cherub figurine and flipflops. At the end of the 2-hour cleanup, NAMEPA and FCC had collected 10 bags of debris which weighed 94 pounds in total! Through our partnership, Fairfield Chemical Carriers supports NAMEPA in our mission to educate, advocate, and activate the maritime industry, as well as encourage students of all ages and the general public to Save Our Seas.
For this year’s World Ocean Day, NAMEPA sought to create meaningful connections with local partners and help reduce the amount of waste going into the ocean. NAMEPA also wanted to highlight that 80% of all ocean trash originates from land. NAMEPA focused on cleaning the Norwalk River to decrease the amount of waste that could travel down the river and into the ocean. By teaming up with Fairfield Chemical Carriers and the City of Norwalk, not only did NAMEPA strengthen preexisting relationships, but built new ones. When confronting pollution and the degradation of our environment, it is important to work with others and to build relationships around helping protect our Earth. These collaborations will provide NAMEPA with opportunities to do more cleanups in the future and continue to engage others to help Save Our Seas.
