​Hey kind krafters!
 
It has been over a month since I made my pledge through Parley to give up plastic bags for 30 days. There were a few times where I forgot to bring my bags, but then I either bought enough to hold without a bag, or I just bought a new reusable one to add to my collection! I honestly found it super easy to do, and I know that by refusing plastic bags in front of my friends, I have been able to make an influence on how they shop now too! I was never pushy or told anyone to use reusable bags, but by just sharing this action with them, I have heard that several friends are now also refusing to use plastic and will bring their own bags to the store. I have also found through this last month that reusable bags hold SO MUCH MORE than your regular plastic bag!!! AND they don’t rip like plastic bags do! So many bonuses to shopping sustainably. 

​Because the last month went so incredibly easily, I am now going to try to eliminate another plastic item from my life. I have been doing pretty well so far with this, but I want to take it to the next step. I have been taking mason jars and other reusable containers to the grocery stores and using them to stock up on pasta, rice, oats, and nuts. But I recently found out that if you ask the store clerks to put other items in your reusable containers instead of the plastic containers that they provide, they will do it! I feel awkward asking to do this but ya gotta be the change to see the change! 

​Now on to some exciting news!! On September 8th the Ocean Cleanup was launched and set off to clean the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The founder and creator of the Ocean Cleanup is Boyan Slat, a 24 year old college dropout from the Netherlands. There are over 70 members of staff that come from many occupational backgrounds like engineers, researchers, scientists, and computational modelers who all work together to get of the plastic pollution in our oceans. Over 5 years of researching, engineering, and testing, they have raised over thirty-million dollars to build the machine that will hopefully save our oceans. Despite not having much press time about this incredibly important experiment taking place right now, he was recognized by the United Nations and was awarded a top environment award for his invention. 

​I am not going to try and explain how this cleanup works when there is a perfectly clear video to show you ten times better than I ever could. Basically, there are 3 main factors to the cleanup:

1. To create a coastline where there isn’t one with the machine
2. To take advantage of the natural ocean forces to help the machine function
3. To concentrate the plastic and then take it out of the water to sort it and reuse it

Here is the video that fully explains the procedure –

The Ocean Cleanup has also taken preventative measure to ensure the safety of sea life, the machine during any storms, and to make sure that other vessels know where they are at all times so that they are not disturbed during their work. There has been both negative and positive feedback for Boyan Slat’s ideas, but many are hopeful that it will work! To find out more information about his invention and the cleanup, visit this website - https://www.theoceancleanup.com.
 
 
Best wishes kind krafters!! I hope your eco-journeys are going well!!
 
Lots of love,
Rhi xoxo

Hey kind krafters!
        
Things have been so so busy! As I spoke about in my last blog I am back in wolfville attending Acadia University Bachelor of Music Education. I thought I would tell you guys a little about what exactly I do here!
 
I am in my 3rd year here at Acadia and hope to become a music educator in my future. In my third year here I really get to focus in on the education side of things within my courses. I am taking a intro to high school education course, conducting, jazz education and more! It feels really good to be able to focus my academic energies into something I am super passionate about! 

​Along with course work I am also a Saxophone major! I take principal applied saxophone here with my wonderful instructor Tristan De Borba. We work on all things technique to performance. This year I will be performing my very first recital (yikes). I am in the process right now of choosing my repertoire for my recital which will be in March. Another awesome thing about having the opportunity to do a recital is that I will be splitting it with my fellow saxophone major and great friend Abby! Lots off work to be done but I am extremely looking forward to it!

​I also play saxophone in the Acadia University Wind Ensemble lead by Dr. Hopkins. As well as being the Wind Ensemble assistant. I am super lucky to have the opportunity to have this position with the ensemble! The ensemble is one of the most established ensembles on campus and we play great music. Our first concert is Sunday October 21st at 3pm! 

​Aside from academics I am also part of the SAMS council here at Acadia School of music. SAMS is the Society of Acadia Music Students. The SAMS takes care of all things school of music events, fundraisers, and information from our faculty to the students. I am the Education Representative so my role is to communicate all education related events to the students. I really enjoy being on council and being involved with the music students at acadia.
 
Every Saturday I will be volunteering with Acadias SMILE program! SMILE stands for Sensory, Motor, Instructional, Leadership, Experience. SMILE is such an amazing program that uses the buddy system and offer opportunity to work with individuals with disabilities. It is one of my favorite things here at Acadia! I hope so speak more about SMILE in an upcoming blog :) 

​Myself and kind krafts other youth ambassador Rhian are also planning a open mic night for kind krafts here in Wolfville! This is an opportunity for music students to showcase talents, students to enjoy some live entertainment and most importantly to help with kind krafts most recent cause! We are both so excited for this and hope to see lots of faces!

SO thats what has been keeping me busy! Staying busy with volunteering and music are the best ways to keep busy (in my opinion)
 
Talk soon!
 
Amy Cameron.

Hey kind krafters,
 
Last weekend I made a last-minute decision to take a quick two-day camping trip before classes started to chill out and have some total relaxation time before starting my third year at Acadia. I forced my boyfriend, Ross, to come along and so on Monday we drove to Blomidon Provincial Park for a short vacation.

​We arrived around 10am, bought some firewood, set up the tent, and then sat down with a nice book on our huge campsite. I am allergic to bug bites so after completely drowning myself in bug spray, I was ready to get in the camping zone. We read for about an hour and a bit before deciding it should be time to get a fire started and cook lunch. We had brought eggs, English muffins, and some yummy cheddar cheese from Cows to have breakfast sandwiches for lunch. Ross taught me how to stack the wood for the fire pit and the best way to get it started. The food cooked super quickly and so we soon started to chow down on lunch. 

Then we relaxed some more and did some exploring of the campsite. We took in the view of the Fundy and then decided we should go and explore it ourselves. We went down to the beach and took a walk on the mud flats. My white vans got completely wrecked and we saw little areas of quick sand as we walked. Despite the steps to the beach having a “Danger! Use at own risk!” sign, there were plenty of folks down along the water. The tide was creeping in at an amazingly fast pace, so we didn’t stay for long. Once I tried to get the mud off of my feet we decided to grab an ice cream in Canning before heading back to the campsite. We stopped at i scream cool treats where I got a chocolate and vanilla soft serve, and Ross got a cone of Moon Mist. It was just what we needed to cool down in the hot afternoon heat! 

​We then went back to the site and chilled some more before making supper. It took us a while to start the fire as the weather had suddenly turned and fog was rolling through the trees at rocket speed. The bay that we had been able to see just five minutes ago was now completely gone and dark clouds were heading our way. The wind then decided to really kick in and our tent started to completely collapse under it as you can see in the picture below. With impending thunder storm warnings and high winds, we decided it might not be the best idea to try and stay the night in our small tent and packed up the car to head home.

​Before leaving, we decided to have a quick snack on some s’mores – I’d never had them before!! We made use of the fire we had burning and ate too many treats to count. Once we were full, we hopped in the car and drove back to Wolfville. 

Over the summer I had been working in an office every week and missed going away for a calm vacation where I could just enjoy the sun. Despite our trip being cut short by weather and us not being well enough equipped to handle it, I felt so much better by just having a day outside in the fresh air. It was a much needed day off where we were able to just lounge around before our lives got super intense with the start of the new school year. This trip definitely made me realize how little time I was allowing myself to have to just relax. I have made a promise to myself to give some time every couple weeks to do nothing and enjoy nature and my friend’s company. I hope that this has reminded you to be extra kind to yourself and to make sure you’re treating yourself well in this busy time of year that’s full of new changes.
 
Best wishes for September kind krafters!!
Rhi xoxo