Environmental News

I’m super excited to announce that I received two LA Emmy nominations this year! In the past, I’ve been nominated for my hosting work for NBC’s “LXTV 1st Look”, but this was extra special as these nominations are for pieces I pitched, produced, shot, wrote, edited, and reported/anchored. I truly believe it takes a village and appreciate the extra shooting and editing help (Luca DeGrassi & Mac Sherwood, respectively) on my story “Something’s Fishy: What’s on your plate?” which received a nomination in the category ‘Business/Consumer News Story’. My other story “Styrofoam Eating Superworms: Creating Zero Waste Surfboards” got nominated for ‘Environment News Story’. 

SOMETHING’S FISHY

In “Something’s Fishy”, I examine the mislabeling of fish in the U.S, with a focus on Southern California. Studies by Oceana and UCLA have shown that between 40% to 50% of fish are being mislabeled by restaurants. One reason for this is that almost 90% of all U.S. seafood is imported. With a longer supply chain, mislabeling and mistakes happen. In some cases, it could also be the result of fraud. 

As of late 2018, local fishing limits have been lifted in California, allowing local fishermen to fish the rising population of Rockfish, and thereby shortening the supply chain. These fishermen, like Eric Hodge, are passionate about fishing and make sure their fish are sustainably-caught, unlike many bigger companies. If you really want to know what’s on your plate, it’s best to buy locally caught whole fish!

STYROFOAM EATING SUPERWORMS 

My second Emmy nomination is for my segment on styrofoam eating super worms. This was a story I wanted to cover for almost a year, ever since I first met Eddie Garcia at the Global Wave Conference in Santa Cruz.  That led to meeting Earth Technologies eco-board shaper, Ryan Harris. 

Ryan started his zero waste surfboard shaping business in LA after he fell in love with the sport, but he hated the amount of waste attributed to making a new surfboard. A 5 lbs short board would create 5 lbs of waste! He decided he wanted to go zero-waste in his business, which he did by repurposing old boards, re-using every piece of waste by up-cycling into other products like coasters. 

He didn’t think that was enough just yet, so he partnered with Eddie Garcia for a pilot project with styrofoam-eating super worms. These creepy crawlers have a unique gut bacteria that turns the styrofoam back into organic material. Pretty amazing, right? Their project is promising, but more research still needs to be done before they can start doing things on a larger scale. 

JUST THE BEGINNING 

It turns out that my instincts about this project were right. This segment landed a spot amongst some other amazing Emmy nominations highlighting environmental issues. I’m honored to be nominated, but I’m even happier that this category exists and that these stories are being honored and awarded! Environmental issues are having a huge impact on our world, and we can’t fight them if we don’t know about them.

My fight for ocean conservation is nowhere near over. Sharing the stories of local fishermen that are working on sustainable and honest fishing practices, and those of innovators like Ryan and Eddie who are revolutionizing the way we think of zero waste, are essential steps in showing others that it is possible to be more aware of what we consume and how to reduce our waste. If we can inspire others and influence the next generation, we will get closer and closer to our goal of a more sustainable world! 

For the entire list of nominees, check out the official press release.