Being an avid animal lover and environmentalist, I enjoy visiting places where I can learn more about the world around me and the amazing species and creatures we share the planet with. I’ve written about this before but I hate zoos and really do my research before visiting any place housing any type of animal, i.e. I’ll only go to what can be considered a “zoo” if I know how the animals got there, what the purpose of having the animal is, etc. My all time favorite “zoo” (if you could even call it that) is located in Palm Springs, CA (which we just visited this past weekend-video and blog post coming soon). It is called The Living Desert and is a research and animal advancement facility where all their animals have been rescued from the wild due to injuries, poachers, lost mother/cannot survive in the wild and the animals are rehabed and studied, therefore they are not in any sedated and are all actually very active. Another big plus, they do not believe in cages! There are solely motes of space separating you from the animals and in some cases maybe one glass wall if the animal is aggressive, as is the case for the mountain lion and leopard. More on that to come!

For now, I’ll be writing about our experience at the Aquarium of the Pacific, a local aquarium in Long Beach, CA. The aquarium is a non-profit instituion dedicated to conserving  and instilling a “sense of wonder, respect, and stewardship for the Pacific Ocean” and all its inhabitants. They are very big on conservation and educating those visiting the aquarium of the importance of saving energy, eliminating plastic, and reducing our impact on the planet.  I was very happy to learn about their conservation efforts and learn about all the things I can very easily to do help our planet. Below I’ve uploaded two videos as they relate to this post.

The first video is of our time spent at the Aquarium of the Pacific and the second video is of our celebration of Earth Day! You’ll want to watch that one to see one of Joey’s not so bright moments lol . Hope you all enjoy! I’ve also written down some helpful hints in case you want to join me in helping save the environment 🙂

THINGS WE CAN ALL DO

-Eliminate using single-use plastics (like straws & plastic bags)

-Reduce your energy use, turn lights off when you leave the room, keep your thermastat at a sustainable level.

-Save water by turning the water off while you brush your teeth.

-Change lightbulbs to LED bulbs if you can.

-Use reusable bottles instead of plastic bottles (Swell bottles are my FAVE!)

Thanks for reading!

xoxo,

Amanda