December 8, 2024

Hi and welcome to newsletter #48 of OneBeautifulPlanet.org!

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The Piglet Squid!

I start most newsletters with a person, animal, or plant that inspired or intrigued me. It is a moment of reflection and gratitude, meant to find lessons and nurture curiosity. Previously I featured animals like the albatross, the oyster, and the fossa, and luminaries such as Rachel Carson, Buckminster Fuller and Sylvia Earle.

A curious-looking little creature caught my eye on Reddit recently: the piglet squid, scientifically known as Helicocranchia pfefferi. This animal is named for its large siphon that looks like a snout. Indeed, its round body, adorned with tiny fins resembling ears, and its upward-curving mouth create an almost cartoonish look. Able to regulate buoyancy with an ammonia-filled internal chamber, this little squid is often observed with its tentacles flared above its head:

The average size of an adult piglet squid is 100 mm (3.9 in) in mantle length. The body consists of a large funnel with small paddle-like fins and small tentacles above the eyes. The funnel does not have valves, but contains a dorsal pad with three papillae as organs. They live near the surface of the oceans, between 100 m and 200 m deep. They descend to the mesopelagic zone as they mature, but exhibit a diel vertical migration pattern (DVM).

The piglet squid plays a vital role in the marine ecosystem as both predator and prey: it helps regulate plankton populations and serves as a food source for larger predators such as fish and whales.

The marine research submersible Nautilus captured a video of a beautiful piglet squid in the wild, near the Palmyra Atoll in the middle of the Pacific Ocean at a depth of 1,385 meters. I found the cheerful, whimsical appearance of this little animal to be fascinating, and just another reminder of the diversity and beauty of life on Earth.

Sources:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helicocranchia_pfefferi

Mindset

"The conservation of natural resources is the fundamental problem. Unless we solve that problem it will avail us little to solve all others." — Theodore Roosevelt

In The Works

Cleanups

Last month we completed our largest event of the year: the cleanup of Levittown Lake banks and surrounding areas. A successful and fun endeavor, this was a collaboration with community members in Falls Township - Bucks County PA, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC), Waste Management, and Barbera Jeeps.

This is what can be accomplished by a volunteer group 15 committed and energetic folks (including Bucks County Commissioner Robert Harvey, who also helped secure a large dumpster from WM) on a crisp Saturday morning: in about two hours, we cleaned up a leftover bicycle, two abandoned trash cans, random household debris, and countless bottles, food packaging, fishing lines, and other litter.

New Collaborations

Litter Buggies - Glenn Morris (FTMOG)

Earlier this year I discovered Litter Buggies and the work of Glenn Morris. In the world of amateur environmental activists, Glenn’s cleanups are among the most entertaining and sophisticated. Previously in Galveston, Texas, Glenn now lives and volunteers in Memphis, Tennessee, and has more than 330,000 TikTok followers. He builds and uses radio controlled trash cans, streams his cleanups online, and has graciously accepted a small sponsorship from OneBeautifulPlanet.org for his work. If you look closely below, you will see our sticker in the middle, towards the top of the trash carrier that Glenn uses in his cleanups!

Circuit Trails Coalition

Having previously supported the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia’s Vision Zero conference, and cleaned up bike trail areas like Cynwyd Heritage Trail, I am expanding our collaboration with the Circuit Trails Coalition, joining as a member. Since its founding in May 2012, the Circuit Trails Coalition has grown into a collaboration of non-profit organizations, foundations, and agencies working to advance completion of a connected network of trails – the Circuit Trails – in the Greater Philadelphia region. Their goal is to raise the profile of bicycle and pedestrian trails, and advocate for their many public benefits.

Green Leap Blog

Recently I wrote an article on the mental and physical health benefits of volunteering outside to clean up litter, and Dr. Reed Omary, of the Green Leap Blog, has graciously reviewed it and provided suggestions. Dr. Omary is the Carol D. and Henry P. Professor in the Department of Radiology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) in Nashville, Tennessee. With 25 years of experience as an interventional radiologist, NIH-funded scientist, and educator, Dr. Omary has served in key leadership roles, including Chair of Radiology at VUMC (2012–2023), Chair of the Board for the Vanderbilt Medical Group (2021–2023), and President of the Association of University Radiologists (2022–2023). Dr Omary is a passionate public speaker advocating for sustainability and innovation in healthcare. He recently took a one-year sabbatical to focus on his interests in decarbonizing healthcare and promoting sustainable practices in the industry.

Housekeeping

On the administrative front, I have made several design updates to the website, and traffic is picking up! See chart below from Google Search Console, which helps tell the story. Some of the most read articles are the litter grabber reviews, and about remarkable creatures such as the vaquita and the fossa. My entrepreneurial drive and perpetual student mindset make this a fun game: how far can I take OneBeautifulPlanet.org on my own before getting more steady support from professionals in the SEO, web design, digital marketing, and online publishing space?

Updated Mission and Results To Date

Last but not least, I have also spent time clarifying the mission, which is now profiled on the front page of the website. Drum roll, please!

“We aim to inspire, perform, and support environmental restoration efforts. Our primary goals are making a positive impact on our surroundings through volunteer activities and connecting individuals who share a passion for immediate and concrete change.”

And to add concrete results that demonstrate the drive toward this lofty goal, since our founding in early 2023, we have:

(a)  Published 32+ inspirational and educational articles, growing the present e-mail list to 250+ subscribers;

(b)  Organized and carried out more than 65 cleanups collecting thousands of pounds of litter from public spaces; and                    

(c)  Financially supported more than 15 grassroots nonprofit organizations carrying out environmental work.

Will you join us on this mission?

If you found this newsletter helpful or interesting, please share it. Thank you. And if you would like to collaborate in some way, whether in writing, or volunteering together at a cleanup, please let me know.

Razvan