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Olilai Chilton, head of H2OO Palau, organized an opportunity for youth to learn in their beautiful outdoor laboratory! 

“H2OO Palau’s UEL Day was a success!  Uel means turtle in the Palauan language, and UEL stands also as an acronym for Underwater Excursion Learning. 

Sixty-four high school and elementary school students in Palau spent a day in Palau’s waters participating in three hands-on learning activities where they were able to explore and observe the unique marine ecosystems. Youth snorkeled at Jellyfish Lake with Coral Reef Research Foundation and helped scientists collect data, they snorkeled at Ulong Channel and visited Biota to learn about sustainable coral and fish farming, and they paddled at Nikko Bay with Palau Paddling learning about the geology and ecology around the bay and assessing the impact of war on the natural environment.“

Olilai, Age 20, Palau

Despite the challenges of 2020, the Berkeley Heirs have accomplished a lot! January 1, 2020, marked the start of the Disposable Free Dining Ordinance in Berkeley. We helped pass this groundbreaking law by collecting signatures and speaking at press conferences and city council meetings beginning in 2018. The all-encompassing law (as it includes all cutlery, containers, bags, and straws) prevents single-use plastic disposables from being given out by restaurants and other businesses in the first place.

For 2020, we decided to study the rollout of the new law; we wanted to better understand how the citizens of Berkeley would react to this law so we divided the city into four quadrants and interviewed random people to find out what they thought. We conducted interviews before the law went into effect and planned to expand our interviews of people after. Unfortunately, Covid-19 hit, the use of plastic disposables skyrocketed and human interaction became limited.

As we were working on our project (August 2019- February 2020) called Speaking Up For a Disposable Free Berkeley, we decided to enter it into the Algalita Plastic Pollution Youth Summit and National Geographic Geo Challenge. We succeeded in being chosen for both! In early March, we learned that our project Speaking Up For a Disposable Free Berkeley was chosen as a semifinalist to compete in National Geographic’s Geo Challenge for Tackling Plastic Pollution at the regional level competition. Our project included researching, supporting, and educating the public about Berkeley’s Disposable Free Dining Ordnance and the pilot reusable cup program, Vessel. Sadly due to Covid-19 the competition had to be cancelled. We are very proud of our accomplishment of advancing from 6,000 teams to the top 250 and definitely had our eyes set on winning at the finals in Washington DC. We look forward to the day when we can finally return to the streets of Berkeley and continue to raise awareness in our community.  

Once the pandemic hit in March of 2020, our Chapter Advisor Jacqueline Omania organized Heirs coming together online in a group called Global Heirs welcoming youth from around the world. As difficult as the pandemic is, it is beautiful to have this virtual connection and to keep learning and growing together.

H2OO youth leaders hosted two sessions in the Environmental Scouts’ Environmental Change-Maker Series which featured great organizations such as The Whale Sanctuary Project, 5 Gyres, Big Life Foundation, and Kids Against Plastic. 

In PART 1, Heirs Latifah and Rita from Uganda and Sarah from the US discussed food insecurity issues faced by their global communities such as food deserts and the unpredictable nature of farming in the changing climate. They discussed the root cause of the issues and what they have decided to do about it! Watch Part 1.

In PART 2, a panel of four Heirs, Dominion from Nigeria, Seth & Dakota from the U.S., and Elly from Kenya, lead discussions on the water crisis and the various forms of pollution that is causing a lack of clean and safe drinking water for communities across the globe. Elly concluded by discussing the need for everyone to be included in the conversation and solutions around water insecurity. Watch Part 2.

“Being a part of opportunities to share what youth here on the frontlines of the climate crisis are living with every day with regards to lack of access to clean water has been really meaningful as now more people can understand that action must be taken now. It is a life and death matter for many of us, which we shared in our panel. Access to clean water is a human right but to date not enough action is happening to prevent water contamination and increase water access. I am grateful to H2OO for sharing the opportunity and supporting us panelists with presentation skills to effectively mobilize communities to action.”

Elly, Age 17, Kenya

The H2OO RAISE Initiative has been very busy this year making big splashes with policy! In February, we spoke with Emily Woodward from U.C. Davis’s Russel Ranch and other experts about sustainable methods of fertilization to prepare to talk to legislators about our big ideas — regulating significantly the amount of fertilizers used in California to prevent land-sea pollution and harmful algal blooms from affecting our coastal waters, marine life and drinking water. In the coming year, the warming waters of the climate crisis are only making matters worse.

March was a busy month. To start, we met with Jackie Speier, our national Representative, about the impact of chemical fertilizers on marine ecosystems and human health. She said that we were ‘sounding the alarm’ about this important and often overlooked issue. A couple of weeks later, we participated in Oceans Day at our State Capitol where we created an infographic about the issue to share with seven State Assembly Members and Senators as we discussed our Initiative and how they can support it. All of them were incredibly receptive to the idea. Next, we attended the Ocean Protection Council’s MPA workshop where we learned more about how MPAs could include regulations controlling water quality and chemical fertilizer runoff. Additionally, we connected with Matthew Dumlao, the Environmental Policy Director for the Lieutenant Governor’s office, and Michael Esgro, a leading member of the OPC’s MPA team.

We gave public comment on the OPC’s 5-year strategic plan after reviewing it, asking for more immediate action and incorporation of policies protecting against nutrient pollution at the source.  To conclude our year we advocated around this issue. Heir Shay presented to the San Mateo County Board about the impacts of chemical fertilizers in her community of Pescadero. Heir Dakota presented at the Soil not Oil conference in San Francisco about the issue of chemical fertilizer use and the goals of the Initiative. As the Initiative builds steam, Heirs from our Pescadero chapter have become more involved, even taking leadership roles in this Initiative. Moving into the next year, we will be filing an amicus brief in support of the Eastern San Joaquin agricultural order, petitioned by Steve Shimek of The Otter Project. We’re looking forward to supporting this order and further driving our government to acknowledge the severity of the Harmful Algal Blooms in our waterways.