WT: Vyacheslav Stoyanov REcycle Expedition 2010 Around the Mediterranean

Vyacheslav Stoyanov REcycle:

Hello my friend,
Many thanks for your activities in my blog. I made you administrator in CYCLE MEDITERRANEAN 2010 cycling relay-race around the Mediterranean Sea group. You can use my group like yours. :) Slav

Brian 브라이안 Perich May 9 at 9:26am
Cool Slav, thanks for extending this invitation! I hope we can partner in the future on another expedition too. I am working on planning for the PanAmerican in 2012. Your campaign experience is definitely great to see in action. Already you have met many people from different cultures, languages, but all connected through the Mediterranean Sea. Environmental focus is key to moving people towards a healthier world, what better way to promote this, than on a bicycle! Well Done! Keep it up!!!!

Vyacheslav Stoyanov: [excerpt from his website, please visit & donate to the 2010 campaign] (:

"Islands of plastic garbage grow at such a rate that they threaten to become plastic continents. Plastic refuse is found not only on the surface, but also on the bottom of water basins. There isn’t a place on Earth, unaffected by disposable plastic packaging ...We need to act now, in order to save ourselves, our children and ensure continuation of life and Nature as we know it ..."
Are we going to give Nature a chance?

Everyone can help. Here's how:

• If we plant a tree or other vegetation.
• If we help a plant or an animal survive.
• If we use water wisely and keep water sources clean, if we do not pollute the soil and keep the air we breathe clean.
• If we reduce our garbage output and dispose of it in appropriate way.
• If we educate ourselves on contributing for better quality of life to all people.
• If we change our attitude towards our natural habitat.
• If we help others learn how to take care of their habitat.

• If we draw at least one follower to the cause of preserving the Earth clean for her children.

Reading Vyacheslav's blog updates and seeing the expedition unfold

through his groups on Facebook has really shown the possibilities that one individual can have to impact the environment in which we live. It starts with raising social awareness

about ecological and environmental issues happening around us, and by us. Taking the necessary steps to practice the 3 R's, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle is a step in the right direction. Also, it's important to consider the packaging when shopping for consumable products, such as water -now popularized as the 'clean, safe' alternative to drinking tap water.

Unknowingly, we feed on an industry producing plastic, as Vyacheslav has so appropriately described as "Islands of plastic garbage" that are in fact, are visible in environmental pollution now seen around the world. The chemicals eventually leech into the water we drink, the air we breathe, the environment-which we depend on for our own survival and the sustainability of other living things which share a place on this Earth.

Desertification in some areas, rising sea levels in others, melting of the polar ice caps are leading to catastrophic changes in local, regional, and global ecosystems. The garbage produced by humans to package elements such as water, is purely disregarding the natural habitat that once flourished on Earth. In order to reverse the effects of environmental degradation, we should begin to look at the packaging of products that we consume each day, look at the weekly accumulation, and think about where all those plastic bottles and containers come from and where they end up going in the process.

The story of stuff covers this topic quite well. Have a look. Vyacheslav has completed an expedition of similar nature in 2009 around the Black Sea, and now in 2010 he is cycling around the Mediterranean Sea raising more social and environmental consciousness about the trash individuals, communities and entire countries continue to throw away.

Perhaps, the physical act of 'just throwing it away,' makes it all too easy to lose sight of where it was created in the first place.

I am considering it now [not to generalize, but to give a specific example], reflective of the dozens of "Gatorade" bottles I've consumed and recycled, but still contributed to this endless of cycle of producing and consuming products made of plastic that cannot be reused. The reality is that any material created must be destroyed while it is recycled - in that process, there is more pollution being created. Therefore, I have switched to the reusable bottles for cycling and stopped purchasing those products designed without the ecosystem in mind.

iTHINK!Foundation is supporting this sort of personal empowerment to make the right choice when considering the environment first when we buy consumable products. Can we reuse the packaging that this product comes in? Unlike clothing which we reuse for several years and recycle through second hand shops, food packaging isn't reused, it's definitely thrown away. So, when we throw it away, does the responsibility for protecting our Earth's environment go with it?

Is throwing the plastic into the

collections, or recycle actually enough to say, "I consciously did my part to help save the Earth." Perhaps, it's a step in the right direction, however, there is much more to that "story of stuff" we commonly overlook.

Well, living and cycling in South Korea has made me quite reflective of the damage and abuse the Earth endures through human development and urbanization in replacement of the natural environment.

My dream today is of cycling without a mask, enjoying clear skies free from pollutants and other harmful chemicals...but it's tough to find these days in this part of the world, and that pattern is expanding with global developments, it's not necessarily a good thing to change nature, we should learn to follow it, preserve it, and make our footprints -lighter and leave no trace we were here.

The story of stuff is a worthy video intro to environmental issues and production of consumable goods that are often disregarded as commonplace, it's time to say, iTHINK! and start actively doing something for the Earth our children will inherit.

In what ways have my 'consumer' habits changed since seeing the iTHINK! campaign? Here's a few examples:

• I am using reusable water bottles for cycling and refilling at public places now (no more commercial gatorade bottles to throw away senselessly)
• I am using fresh fruits and vegetables as fuel on cycling expedition training in South Korea.
• Using less electricity/gas in lighting/heating the apartment
• Using fans instead of air conditioners in hot summer climate
• Using water sparingly for washing dishes, wear more clothes indoors and turn down/off the heat required without it.
• Stop buying food products in non-reusable packaging.

(: And now, here's the story of stuff...iTHINK! you will enjoy!!!!

Thanks Vyacheslav - Great initiative that works!