One of the most exciting reasons for me to go to the Maldives was to spend time with Jean Michel Cousteau - oceanographic explorer, environmentalist, filmmaker and son to legendary undersea explorer Jacque Cousteau who invented the Aqua-Lung! 🌿 Jean Michel is the founder of @oceanfuturessociety and has made over 70 films, one of them influenced President Bush to create one of the world’s largest marine protected areas. 🌿 @ritzcarltonmaldives has partnered with Jean to deliver the Ambassadors of the Environment program - dedicated to protecting the Maldivian ecosystem and educate guests so they go home with the motivation to live more sustainably. 🌿 The most inspiring element for me was his dedication to educating kids “the leaders of tomorrow and the best investment we can make”. He instilled confidence in Eliza and it has influenced me to teach her more about nature. He is absolutely right that kids are like sponges - what goes into their minds never goes away and that impacts them to make better decisions for the rest of their lives. “I beg and thank the parents to do everything they can to connect with their kids and share information - it’s fascinating, kids love it - but we have to make it available to them to see it and experience it.” TAKE-AWAYS from Jean: 🐠 Experience the ocean. 🐠 Support sustainable seafood and local fishermen. 🐠 Think about your spending, support eco conscious companies. 🐠 Use ocean safe sunscreen. 🐠 Understand that when you drink a glass of water, you’re drinking the ocean. There’s only one water system. 🐠 Make sure the ocean is not polluted, and stop using it as a universal sewer. 🐠 Reduce single-use plastic. Fish ingest it, as it photo-degrades, it goes down the food chain to the plankton. Fish eat plankton and it goes back up the food chain to us. 🐠 Chemicals and heavy metals are pollutants we can’t see - wherever you live litter is going to find its way into a stream and out to the ocean. “We’re the only species that has the capacity to solve problems and the privilege to decide not to disappear. Time is of the essence. That’s why I’m not giving up.” JMC #protecttheocean #oceanconservation