Faith-based organizations have been central actors in social justice movements throughout history. Organizing an event for World Oceans Day is a great way to bring your community’s passion to a critical issue of our time: environmental sustainability.
This movement is about living more consciously to ensure that future generations can enjoy our planet’s natural resources and lead happy and healthy lives. World Oceans Day is a significant part of this push for sustainability because events organized by people of all ages and backgrounds help spread the word about the importance of the ocean in our everyday lives and the need to protect it.
Whether you live near or far from the shore, we all rely on the ocean and the life within it for food, oxygen production, climate regulation, and more.
Did you know that many of today’s most well-known environmental organizations have faith-based roots? The founders of Greenpeace were inspired by the Quaker tradition of “bearing witness,” while John Muir, a founder of the Sierra Club, developed a deeply spiritual relationship with nature influenced by evangelical Protestantism, Romanticism, and transcendentalism. Many other organizations in all parts of the world, representing a wide variety of faiths, are also doing commendable work on environmental activism and education.
Ethics-based environmentalism, which often focuses on personal modifications to create societal change, may resonate with faith-based groups for many reasons, including:
To participate in events on World Oceans Day, June 8, use the ideas below or your own.
There are lots of event ideas out there, but here are just a few to get you started. See more here.
Once you have your event planned, add it to the World Oceans Day Event Map.