All posts from Philippe Cousteau
-
Events, Water Planet Challenge, Everything You Do Makes a Difference, What You Do, Youth In Action
Cutting Through a Sea of Excuses: Equipping Youth to Save the Ocean
When confronting the issue of ocean debris and pollution, it’s easy to become overwhelmed and find a quick excuse to focus on something else, anything else, other than the cold hard facts. It’s an understandable impulse because the problem isn’t pretty and it’s getting worse. The issue of plastic debris in the ocean is startling on its own. A United Nations study found that every square mile of the ocean has approximately 46,000 pieces of floating plastic in it.
-
Philippe Cousteau: Humanity is on a knife edge
My grandfather Jacques Yves Cousteau shared with me many stories about the United Nations Earth Summit in 1992 and the sense of hope that surrounded it. I have kept a copy of the speech he made there on June 5th outlining his concerns for the future of humankind. The insight it provides now, on the eve of the 20th anniversary of that historic event, is particularly poignant. Chief amongst those concerns was the issue of population, and how it directly relates to women and education.
-
Tsunami debris an environmental threat
As we approach the one-year anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami that devastated the region around the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, my thoughts are very much with the people of Japan who continue to recover and rebuild from this disaster. Click to read the rest of Philippe Cousteau's blog and watch his CBS interview
-
Download EarthEcho’s latest webinar to make a difference
What’s your favorite meal? I had the chance to ask that to over 125 classrooms last week when I hosted the What’s On Your Fork webinar. If you missed it, or if you thought it was SO good that you just have to see it again, you can view the full webinar at www.WaterPlanetChallenge.org. Students from across the country – and Canada! – tuned in to hear Brent Kim and Ralph Loglisci of Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future and me, as we discussed the environmental and community impact ...
-
Freezing in the Arctic and Sweating in Sudan, but on Time in Chicago
I’ve been traveling all my life. It’s part of my DNA, and in many ways defines me and the work of my family. Flying isn’t the most eco-friendly thing in the world, so to offset it I always try do as much as I can in one place. Click here to read the rest of Philippe's article in The New York Times
-
Everything You Do Makes a Difference, What You Buy, Media
For Teens: A Back-to-School Checklist for Going Green and Blue
Heading back to school? You may have a checklist for supplies, from calculators to notebooks and lined paper. Heading back to school is also ideal for another checklist, one for going green and blue at school, at home, and in your community. We all know the importance of going green. Being eco-aware is a must to protect and preserve our environment and increasingly fragile ecosystems. Why add “blue?” View the rest of the blog and my suggestions on Rodale.com
-
EarthEcho Updates, Expeditions, Marine Life
The Power of Alaska
PHOTOS BY KEITH ELLENBOGEN
Rarely is the raw power of nature so evident as when one stands staring up at a 300 foot towering mountain of ice. All around us the mountains have been worn smooth by frozen water over millennia with the only jagged peaks being those that were high enough to escape the relentless onslaught of the glaciers. Mother harbor seals concerned for their newborn pups watched us with wary eyes from their frozen perches atop icebergs as we slowly cruised past, careful to keep our distance so as not to disturb them.
This was Dawes Glacier, a tide water glacier, in other words a rare type of glacier that originates in the mountains and makes it all the way down to the ocean, which was recorded by John Muir in 1879. The weather was holding for the time being, and though rain seemed imminent, who could …
-
Philippe Cousteau’s Happy Place
They say that our sense of smell is one of the strongest triggers of memories. Of course, our sense of smell is integral to our sense of taste so it is no surprise then that in a life full of moving and traveling, food has always been a source of familiar comfort for me. In particular, one meal from one restaurant stands out above the rest and still stirs precious memories whenever I think about it. Read the rest on CNN
-
Help Save Learn and Serve
On my journeys across this great nation, I have the privilege of meeting thousands of youth and their teachers who participate in service-learning projects that improve their environments and communities. I have seen how school energy programs engage students in science as well as save money; I have seen how school gardens change eating habits and transform the student body’s health and how overall, service learning leads to lower dropout rates and more engaged and educated youth. However, the ability for educators to secure funding for these type of activities is in jeopardy. The House Appropriations Committee recently agreed to a budget that cut $40 million from Learn and Serve America. This is the entire budget for Learn and Serve America, which is the only federal program dedicated to service learning. Without this funding, educators will not have the money to start projects that will prepare students …
-
Expeditions, CNNi, Arctic Circle
Catlin Ice Base: Mission Critical
I woke up this morning to snow falling on my head caused by the accumulation of my breath freezing on the inside of the tent all night long. Wiping sleep from my eyes, I wrestled with my gear as I slipped out of my sleeping bag into the -35 degree centigrade air. To read the rest of Philippe’s blog on CNN International, visit Follow Philippe (@PCousteau) on Twitter
