Plastic Trash Inspires Art and Music in Brooklyn

Plastic Trash Inspires Art and Music in Brooklyn

July 18, 2013 – New York, NY – Though no one wants to encounter trash at the ocean or on the beach, plastic inspires art and music this Saturday at the “Plastic Art for a Healthy Ocean” event. For a contest hosted by the What You Can Do web and TV series, artists submitted 2D or 3D ocean-inspired pieces using primarily plastics and other mixed media. What You Can Do celebrates the oceans this summer, featuring ideas to help issues such as overfishing, pollution and wildlife preservation in new episodes. The series also spotlights a woman inspired to live plastic free by a Laysian albatross at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in videos "Plastic Free for a Year" and "Bird is the Word…For Going Plastic Free."

The “Plastic Art for a Healthy Ocean” contest culminates in a night of art and live music at the Bushwick Coffee House in Brooklyn, New York this Saturday, July 20th at 7:30 pm. The What You Can Do team will announce the winner of a $100 cash prize for their artwork, along with a matching donation to an ocean conservation charity. The winner will also receive a gift basket and gift certificate from CeleBritAy, a Brooklyn based company that offers natural health and beauty goods for men and women in an environmentally friendly fashion. The evening will kick off at 7:30 pm with an exhibit of submitted art work, followed by live music from the Sea Monsters, KNTRLR and Janet LaBelle at 9pm. Admission is free at 7:30 pm and will be $10 starting at 9pm.

“After visiting experts at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, California and Parker Manatee Aquarium in Bradenton, Florida, we discovered small changes can make a big difference for our oceans,” shared Alicia Arinella, What You Can Do executive producer. “We can’t wait to see the creativity inspired by passion to preserve our oceans with the ‘Plastic Art for a Healthy Ocean’ contest and event.”

Below is a sampling of some of the artwork submissions: 

An ocean-inspired piece created by Tiffany Gholar (www.tiffanygholar.com)  

Plastic Art for a Healthy Ocean - entry 1 by Lee Leehttp://www.lee-lee.com/

Submission by Mary Martire: http://marymartire.com/. 

The Webby Awards named What You Can Do as an official honoree in the Public Service and Activism category for 2013. The series also received the 2012 Humanitarian Award from the Accolade Competition in recognition of the mission to help change the world, one minute at a time. Houston World Fest, the oldest independent film and video festival in the world, presented What You Can Do with a Gold Remi Award for Television Commercials/Public Service Announcements in 2013.

Produced by On the Leesh Productions in New York City, the What You Can Do web and television series spotlights easy and powerful ways to help solve important issues such as rainforest preservation, climate change, hunger and animal cruelty. The series has been featured in Better Homes & Gardens, The Daily Green web site, Mrs. Green’s World radio show and Videography Magazine. To view What You Can Do episodes and for more information, visit:http://www.whatyoucando.com.

On the Leesh Productions is a New York City based company that creates film, web series and corporate video. For more information about On the Leesh, visit:http://www.ontheleesh.com/.

Media Contact:                                                                

Ashley Kaufman                                                              

ashley@eluxpr.com                                                      

336.255.7565                                                                     

Sponsorship Contact: 

Kristin Thomas

KristinReniseThomas@gmail.com

704.369.1492

Plastic Free for a Year

What You Can Do speaks with Monterey Bay Aquarium's Sarah-Mae Nelson who describes her experience going plastic free for a year. Find out what inspired her, how she did it, and how it changed her life!

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Shot and Directed by - Amanda Blohm
Edited by - Amanda Blohm
Associate Producer - Melissa Jernigan
Additional Sound - Melissa Jernigan
Additional Footage Courtesy of Shutterstock Inc.

For more information on What You Can Do, please visit:
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/whatyoucando
Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/whatyoucando
Other YouTube Channel -http://www.youtube.coom/whatyoucando365
Blog - http://www.whatyoucandoseries.blogspo...
Pinterest - http://www.pinterest.com/1minette
Website - http://www.whatyoucando.com


For more information on the Monterey Bay Aquarium, please visit:
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/montereybayaq...
Twitter - https://twitter.com/montereyaq
YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/MontereyBayAqu...
Seafood Watch Program -http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr...
Website - http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/

Our June 2013 Newsletter

Dear Friends,  What You Can Do is spending this summer honoring our oceans from coast to coast.  Recently, we made trips to The Parker Manatee Aquarium at The South Florida Museum and The Monterey Bay Aquarium to interview their experts on the current health of our oceans, and what people can do to help.  Our videos spotlighted the issues of climate change, plastics, sustainable seafood, and the human impact of overfishing and trash disposal.  More importantly, we highlighted one minute ways to make an impact and help.  In addition, on June 22nd, What You Can Do's video: Help Fight Hunger in New York City, featuring one of our favorite organizations, Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen, screened at the Manhattan Film Festival in Greenwhich Village.  Thanks to the festival for including us. We had a blast! Wish you and yours a happy kick off to the summer,  The On the Leesh Team A few weeks ago, Amanda visited The Monterey Bay Aquarium to interview experts on the most pressing topics affecting our oceans today.  First up, Amanda interviewed Jim Covel, the Senior Manager of Guest Experiences, about the state of our oceans and ocean health in general. All the choices we make affect our oceans.  Everything from the pesticides we use on our lawns, the cars that leaks oil onto pavement, and the cleaning products that we choose for our homes, all will eventually run off into our seas. Even if you're in the middle of the country! Check out the video to learn how you can help make better choices to protect one of our most valuable resources.  Next up, Ryan Bigelow, outreach manager for the Seafood Watch Program, explained that we have already lost over 85% of the big fish in our oceans. According to the aquarium, catching fish faster than they can reproduce may be the single biggest threat to ocean ecosystems. Downloading the app or a pocket guide  from Seafood Watch, allows consumers to make better choices at restaurants and supermarkets.  Making better choices and talking about the issue of overfishing will help bring back fish populations.  It has worked to bring back Swordfish and Chilean Sea Bass, so let's give it a try! Watch this video to find out more.     Thanks to The Monterey Bay Aquarium for such a warm welcome, and to everyone who got involved in the conversation on Facebook.  Be sure to subscribe to us on YouTube. UP NEXT July continues What You Can Do's dedication to our oceans.  We're traveling to Bradenton, Florida to interview Marilyn Margold at The Parker Manatee Aquarium at The South Florida Museum.  The Parker Manatee Aquarium is the home to the ambassador of Manatees, Snooty. He's turning 65 this year, so stay tuned to find out who you can celebrate manatees in his honor.  Marilyn also discusses the biggest threats to our marine wildlife and how we can help make a difference.    If you're an artist, we're holding a contest in honor of our oceans in New York City. We're seeking works of art made from recycled plastic that will be featured as part of a show at Bushwick Coffee House, a coffee shop in Brooklyn, NY. The contest will culminate in an event and concert with the Sea Monsters on July 20th.  Write us at info@ontheleesh.com for more information.     Be sure to write in and share your ideas on how to protect our oceans!

If life's a beach, let's keep it clean!

Growing up in California’s Bay Area, I have always had great love, awe, and appreciation for the ocean. Thinking about it now, the seed of my fascination with the ocean may have been planted when I saw my first movie in theaters, The Little Mermaid. After seeing it, and of course watching it over and over again at home, I always regarded the ocean’s undulating surface as an expansive blue curtain shielding another world filled with creatures beyond our wildest imagination.

While I am not a believer in mermaids, yes it’s unfortunate; I still regard the ocean with the same astonishment that I did when I was a child. I spent about 8 years of my young life dreaming of being an oceanographer. Why didn’t I fulfill my dream you ask? It all came to an end on career day when I listened to a real life oceanographer speak for the first time. I fell asleep to him talking about plankton, and mind you I rarely fell asleep in class, and I awoke to him still talking about plankton. He then ended his speech saying “Remember kids, don’t do it for the money”. I left the classroom knowing that was, in fact, not the career path for me. However, I still love the ocean, and know that we must do something NOW to help reverse the damage we have caused to the health of our oceans and all of it’s inhabitants.

Hearing about floating plastic land masses the size of Texas in the middle of the ocean, seeing pictures of birds covered in oil from recent oil spills, and watching the documentary The Cove, is enough to break my heart and make me sick thinking about how humans have trashed, disrespected, and taken advantage of our ocean. Our health is directly linked to its health, which is why I strongly believe we need to do something, together as a human race, and also as individuals on a daily basis.

I was going to pack this blog post with scientific facts about the ocean’s current state, but really do I need to? We all know the ice caps are melting, the ocean is littered with plastic, and its inhabitants are dying because of man made plastic materials and fishing equipment. The ocean also recently received a 60 out of a possible 100 as it’s current overall health score. I know for a fact that if I went home to my Mom with a 60 as my grade on a test, she would be very disappointed. That’s not a score that makes it onto the refrigerator.

While I can sit around all day worried about the state of ocean, I’m going to put my money where my mouth is. I will be participating, and filming beach clean ups over the next two weekends here in NYC, and dedicating my blog posts to reporting back all that I discover.

There are so many simple things we can do to make a difference. For example, and this is one I’ve really been trying to work on myself, let’s ban the plastic bags! Let’s also stop buying water bottles, or at least limit the amount we do buy, replacing them with reusable containers. Lastly, at the very least, let’s make sure to pick up our trash!

Here are a couple links to websites with detailed info about our ocean’s current condition.

Ocean Facts

Ocean Health Index

I look forward to participating in my first beach clean-up, and encourage all of you out there, be it near the coast or not, to pick up trash. Maybe even just one piece of trash everyday, even if it’s not yours. Think about what a difference that would make if we all actually did it!

I’ll be reporting back next week, so stay tuned!