These first two weeks haven’t gone as planned, both in positive and not-so-positive ways.

Last week, I signed a petition on Change.org. Actually, I signed six of them. They were all there, easily accessible, with no burden to myself. One in particular caught my eye. Instead of a traditional petition description, it contained only a video. Turns out, this video was a documentary hosted by restaurateur and chef Gordon Ramsay entitled Shark Bait.

Ramsay travelled across the globe to investigate the true horrors and cruelty associated with the practices, the resistance to even talking about it, and the dining experience of such a sought-after food. Previous to watching this documentary, I had not realized how controversial shark fin soup was and how much of a lack of transparency there is in where the shark fins come from. From the documentary, I picked up the idea of talking to local restaurant owners here in Columbus to find out if they sell shark fin soup and if they know where those fins come from. The idea would be to open up a discussion about the practices behind their products. This may be a project beyond the Earth Month Action Plan, but it has sparked a new sense of ability in making change on this issue.

Today, I donated to the organization The Shark Trust in the form of an “adoption.” In particular, this adoption was made to support the No Limits? campaign run by The Shark Trust to “[highlight] the urgent need for science-based catch limits for Blue Sharks, Shortfin Makos, smoothhounds, catsharks and Tope.” Other adoption possibilities include more specific options such as adopting a Great White Shark, Whale Shark, and a Basking Shark. I chose the No Limits? campaign opportunity because I felt that while it’s nice to think I’ve adopted an animal, I believe that my donation will do greater good and supports a broader range of issues than were I to specify which species the money should go to support.

After the ENR class last week, I now have a whole list of possible new ideas of how to get involved in this issue, such as the aforementioned speaking to local restaurant owners who sell shark fin soup; speak with customers and find out what they know about the issue and where those shark fins are coming from; speak to my representative about a state prohibition on the distribution of shark finning — only 10 out of 50 states have laws against the sale, trade, possession and distribution of shark fins, and Ohio is not one of those states — etc. I look forward to pursuing this issue further.