- Hey, I'm Adrian Grenier,
co-founder of Lonely Whale
and this is Action Planet.
- I'm not a scientist
but my lay understanding of the science
is that the situation is growing more and more urgent.
- When you take action,
your life gets when you gets meaning.
When you get a meaning in life,
you become happy.
- When people connect, they care.
- When you're feeling well and doing well
you have no choice, but to be well to the planet.
- We are taking up to the task of managing this crisis.
- And it's a mountain we can climb
if we climb it together.
- If we don't do what a science demands,
we pass a tipping point and it's out of our control.
(upbeat music)
- Many people may assume
that we're an ocean conservation organization,
but in fact what we are
is an organization designed to connect human beings.
We've built these kinds of networks of like-minded people.
And one program that we've we built in particular
is Ocean Heroes Bootcamp
where we bring 300 plus kids from around the world,
over 25 countries,
all coming together to learn the tools
of how to bring ocean values back to their communities
and spread the message.
So the most important part of that program is the kids
when they come together
and the networks they create and the friendships they,
and the bonds they solidify is so invaluable
and it's such a beautiful thing to watch
because if you can't connect, you can't care.
But if you care, you can cure.
(gentle music)
Oh, the significance of that whale.
There's this one whale out there.
He's a real whale.
This whale is very unique.
He's special.
He sings at a different frequency than all other whales.
Whales typically will sing between 15 and 20 Hertz,
but this whale sings at 52 Hertz,
which is it's like speaking totally foreign language
to all other whales of his kind.
They're one of a few species
that have spindle cells
that are associated with consciousness,
humans being one of them.
So they're highly sentient, conscious perhaps
or at least semi-conscious,
highly social, just like humans,
and there's this one whale out there
calling out constantly seeking connection
without ever once receiving a response.
Now what happens when you hear that story?
Well the same thing that happened to me, I imagine.
My heart opened and I was like, oh,
this whale, I feel for it.
And this whale, while he has a hard time
communicating with his own kind,
he can speak directly to the human heart.
So we were inspired by that
and we've made it our life's mission
to spread the wisdom of the lonely whale
through our organization,
which is really that of connection.
How can we understand the plight of whales
or other species that don't speak our language?
And if we can understand that,
then we can begin to give our support
in the appropriate ways.
(upbeat music)
What NextWave Plastics is
is a consortium of 15 plus companies
that have a global footprint
who have all come together and have made a pledge
to source and purchase ocean bound plastic.
So they've all agreed to,
committed to doing personal business audit
so they can find use cases for ocean bound plastic,
have agreed to purchase a certain amount of this
and we've essentially created a supply chain
for ocean bound plastic.
And so we're basically taking plastic
and putting it back into the economy
by giving it value and agreeing to buy it
so that we can actually
create an industry around collection
and then the sourcing of this plastic
that would otherwise get wasted.
Check out nextwaveplastics.org
and this is basically building that infrastructure
that will make businesses
have an easier time doing the right thing.
(gentle music)
I have changed so much over the years.
When I was a young tot,
I think I was pretty much all rage and no solution.
I was just pissed off and mad and passionate and emotional,
but ultimately ineffective.
And then I went through a period
where I was totally utterly apathetic and nihilistic
because I had to protect myself
because it hurt too much
to see the things out there that were suffering.
And then when I was checked out and I had to retreat,
I was ineffective.
So balancing between that
and recognizing that it's not all about me
and my vision for the future,
it's about how we work together.
(upbeat music)
You know a lot of people wanted me
to give a list of to-dos,
what you can do
and I could do that,
stop sucking,
stop using single use plastic straws is a start.
I really believe that it's a choice,
it's a holistic choice to just participate.
Slow fashion is basically an intentional
and holistic approach to the fashion industry,
essentially a different way of creating fashion products
and changing our relationship to supply chains and materials
and the way they're constructed
so that they're more sustainable and more eco-friendly.
Everybody wants things quick,
but there's a detriment in that kind of efficiency.
There's a thoughtlessness.
And it's also about using technology to reduce the bloat.
So instead of having a lot of overstock
or creating a lot of stuff
that ultimately goes into a landfill
and people don't actually want or use,
creating really quality products
that people will keep for a long time
and potentially pass down to their children.
My pet peeve, where do I begin?
Plastic water bottles on podiums.
So when people have a platform,
when they have a stage
and they have a plastic water bottle next to them
and it's just sitting there being like advertising,
like I am a water bottle and I'm okay, go for it.
It normalizes plastic as a vessel
and it sends the wrong message and it's got to stop.
What would I say to a climate denier?
I would say to a climate denier,
hi, I hear you, I understand you.
I would love to explore what's important to you,
what your perspective is on the world.
Climate deniers, thank you for being present,
for giving your perspective.
Now let's find the synthesis
between what your worldview is,
what our worldview is,
so that we can come to a consensus
that we can operate through.
We all want the same things.
If we stop trying to be right all the time,
we might actually learn something.
Take a breath and deepen your capacity to feel.
Feelings are are basically a culmination
of all of our sense organs
working in concert to help guide us.
So if we can deepen our ability
to be discerning and make choices,
then we can start to operate in the world more effectively.
I really like this question.
I'd say that what it is is the Voldemort within us.
- Look at me.
- It's that voice of Voldemort in our heads
that tell us that we can own and exploit nature
and the plants and the animals,
that we have dominion over nature,
that we reign supreme.
It's this power hungriness, right?
I'm extremely hopeful for the planet.
I see a big global awakening.
We are on that evolutionary path.
Things will heal.
They always do.
Nature proves it over time.
We just sometimes have to get out of our own way.
Show up.
Wake up, show up, clean up.
(gentle music)