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The Man Loves Turtles: An Interview with Dr. Wallace J. Nichols
Life is never boring at LUSH HQ! A typical Tuesday morning may include meeting an inspirational change maker, like Dr. Wallace J. Nichols.
A marine biologist, wildlife conservationist and one of the world's leading experts on sea turtles, Dr. Nichols stopped by to share his passion for the ocean and its inhabitants. Before addressing the packed room, Dr. Nichols passed out little blue marbles as a token of gratitude and a reminder of our beautiful, blue planet. He shared his love of turtles (spoiler alert: he really, really loves them), his groundbreaking research and how he, along with our Charity Pot partners RED Sustainable Travel, helped transform a community of turtle hunters into turtle conservationists.
With our blue marbles in hand, we sat down to chat with him about his Billion Baby Sea Turtles project, the study of neuroconservation and how love can literally change the world.
When did your fascination with turtles begin?
When I was a kid I fell in love with turtles, but there was a period of time when there was no encouragement. It was mostly discouragement. People just didn't study turtles for a living. No one around me was doing that. I saw a flier in the library for a job listing in Costa Rica and applied. I went off to Costa Rica and it rekindled that dream. From that moment, I never looked back. I just kept going, getting my masters and then my Ph.D. I became president of the sea turtle society. I never knew there was such a thing!
You spoke today about love and its...
LUSH Charity Pot: Pedalling for Papua
This week, Jeremy Bally is joining the LUSH blog just as he prepares for another incredible adventure with Pedalling for Papua. We're proud to have Jeremy and his incredible organization as part of our Charity Pot family and we wish him the best of luck on his journey and sharing the messages from West Papua.
I pored over my itinerary last night with a calculator, and realized that I’ll be cycling 12,633 kilometers before this year is over. I haven’t started training yet, and it’s about 3 weeks until I leave. But I really don’t feel concerned. At least about that.
On the 1st of May in West Papua, dozens of demonstrations were held around the region to protest the 50th anniversary of Indonesia seizing control over the area. Over those 50 years, it’s been estimated that as many as 500,000 West Papuans have been killed either by the Indonesian security forces that operate with impunity there, or by the inequitable lack of development in their resource rich homeland. These protests saw 2 more added to that number, as military and police fired indiscriminately on peaceful protestors. Incidents like this fuel the belief that a slow motion genocide is still being perpetrated against West Papuans, who in the past few years have become a minority in their homeland. This is what I feel concerned about. I figure it’s worth more worry than a p...
Jasmine Polsinelli: Fighting for a Fur-Free Canada
“My goal is to stop the fur trade in Canada by the time I’m 20.”
11-year-old Jasmine Polsinelli has set an aggressive goal, but her dedication to animal rights makes it clear that she intends to accomplish it. I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Jasmine about her animal protection efforts when we called her at home in Oshawa, Ontario on an April afternoon. She had prepared answers to my questions before our discussion and bashfully warned me that she may mix up her words… though when we began chatting, I found her answers weren’t from a well-rehearsed script, but from the heart of an enthusiastic and intelligent individual with a remarkable love of animals.
Left: Jasmine with one of her family dogs, Right: Jasmine holding up a Fur Bearer Defenders T-shirt
We first became acquainted with Jasmine during our Canadian “Fur Trim is a Trap” campaign in which we partnered with The Association for the Protection of Fur-Bearing Animals. Our joint efforts raised awareness about the cruelty behind trapping animals for their fur and resulted in 5000 signed postcards that appealed to Dani Reiss, President and CEO of Canada Goose, to stop supporting the industry by using coyote fur on the company’s jackets. The jackets are quickly becoming an icon of Canadian fashion, and by extension we’re seeing an unfortunate resurgence in the popularity of fur for fashion.
Jasmine bravely volunteered to personally hand-deliver the postcards- she was inspired by the thousands of individuals who, after l...
Charity Pot partner, Second Chances Wildlife Center, shares a lot of love this Mother’s day
In honor of all Mom's - human or furry, we're excited to share the story of Second Chances, our Charity Pot partner. Founder and Director, Brigette Williams joins the LUSH blog.
This Mother's Day, I am a Mom of two teenagers plus forty furry foster animals, most of which are infants. I celebrate my children and celebrate the life I am trying to offer to the babies that lost their Moms. In some way, I feel that I owe it to the Moms. Wildlife Moms are such wonderful and dedicated Moms.
When my children were a bit younger, I took them camping one weekend. That weekend played a key role in my thoughts of rehabilitating wildlife. There was a woman there that had just found two baby opossums. No one knew what to do or how to care for them. Not knowing that possessing any wildlife, even to care for it, was illegal, I took them with me; at least I had some background in caring for animals, as I have been a volunteer educator at our local zoo for almost 14 years. My children and I thoroughly enjoyed caring for "Peanut and Ginger" and we experienced our first bitter sweet release.
That was such a learning experience. I realized the critical need in our community and in 2010, founded the 100% volunteer 501c3 organization, Second Chances Wildlife Center. The need was for someone to help the often-overlooked and misunderstood wildlife. There simply was not ...
Meet Our New Charity Pot Partner: Generation Her
The Charity Pot family is expanding! We're happy to introduce you to one of our newest Charity Pot partners - Generation Her. Executive Director, Dianna Smiley joins the blog this week to share the amazing work that they're doing to support and empower teen moms.
Generation Her is so excited to be one of LUSH's new Charity Pot partners.
A non-profit organization created in 2009 by Dianna Smiley, Generation Her exists to empower teenage mothers and their children, by connecting them with a supportive community and equipping them with life skills and impacting their futures in a positive way.
We have several locations throughout Los Angeles County and Orange County serving around 45 to 60 young women a week. At Generation Her, teen moms can come and be supported, encouraged, and given hope for a brighter future. We also provide the young moms with a mentor, weekly support groups, and earned baby items. In the life skills classes we teach the girls everything from financial literacy, parenting, the importance of early literacy for children, creative projects, anger management, stress management, conflict resolutions, career and educational goal setting, healthy relationships, teen dating violence, budgeting, nutrition and healthy cooking classes, self esteem, fitness and more. Generation Her was created because of a great need to empower,...