I am currently living in Nanaimo while I study dental assisting and work as a care aide in long-term care. I was introduced to the Coastal Water Protectors through Vanessa and Angel. I joined at the end of the summer of 2022.

Water Conservation is new to me and I am eager to help and learn in any way I can. I am looking forward to doing more training and courses that are available to us. I am very grateful to be a part of an incredible group of people who are all working towards the same goal: to protect our beautiful coast. I enjoy spending my free time outdoors either in the mountains hiking or visiting a nearby beach.

The ocean has always been close to me and having clean water is extremely important to me. In my younger teenage years, I canoe paddled with my local canoe crew in Cowichan Bay for a few years and we were on the water every day traveling up and down the coast to different war canoe races throughout the summer. Last year I began canoe paddling again and I didn’t realize how much I missed being on the water and how healing it is for my soul.

With climate change accelerating it makes me very sad to think our future generations won’t have the same environment we grew up in. ‘“We often dismiss small changes because they don’t seem to matter very much at the moment” is a quote from a book I recently read called Atomic Habits that has helped me think more optimistically about every aspect of my life. I had always felt helpless and discouraged when it came to climate change and how much waste is being produced and ending up in our oceans. Especially, working in health care and being forced to use so many single-use plastics for the sake of convenience.

Since changing my career direction to dental care it has made me feel as if I could advocate for eco-friendly supplies because I will be working at a private dental clinic. The technology and supplies are there and continue to get better and more affordable therefore there is no excuse to not be making the switch over gradually. Small changes resembling this have given me hope and encouragement because it is something that I can do in my work life. After all, I will be there the majority of my time and hopefully, other clinics will follow along.