Plant A Fish

"In our every deliberation,

We must consider the impact of our decisions

On the next seven generations."

- From the Great Law of the Iroquois Confederacy, which was the inspiration behind the Seventh Generation brand name and company mission over 20 years ago.

A couple days ago, I flew up to Burlington Vermont for a presentation at the offices of Seventh Generation (a truly admirable company). I've never been to Vermont so the moment we landed and I saw the rocking chairs and the sweetly simple airport poster I smiled and suddenly felt a long, long way from New York's Laguardia airport.

We were only there for a few hours but immediately picked up that good college town vibe and was struck by the natural beauty all around. Besides a highlight of walking to the soft serve ice cream stand post meeting, I was especially mesmerized by the view from Seventh Generation's conference room.

Sometimes I think I'm half mermaid as looking at water is so restorative to me...and I believe, to most people.

Interestingly my friend and neighbor Fabien Cousteau's first job after college was at Seventh Generation. Fabien, a third generation ocean explorer and environmentalist, is the eldest grandson of the legendary Jacques Cousteau -- a man who essentially first 'walked on the moon' for us, under water. As a scientist, explorer, author, filmmaker, photographer and researcher, he was the innovator behind modern diving and even more - the pioneer of marine conservation. He first opened our eyes and hearts to the beauty and majesty of the sea and all its forms of life in water, all creatures great and small.

I originally met Fabien thru my friend Greta, who had met his girlfriend Susan where you meet people in New York - at a dog park. As life works in interesting ways, I ended up moving to New York just a few blocks from their apartment in Brooklyn Heights. Earlier this year, on a chilly Sunday afternoon at Tazzo, I sat with Fabien and discussed his vision for the ocean restoration campaign he wanted to launch called "Plant A Fish."

With the perspective of someone who has been diving since the age of four and grew up on the decks of his grandfather's famous ships Calypso and Alcyone, Fabien's passion, knowledge and appreciation for marine life is fascinating. Daunting facts such as "1.5 billion people - over 20 percent of the world's population - depend on the sea as a source of food or income" regularly come up in conversation. Or the fact that between pollution and over-fishing, our oceans are being emptied and vast species of marine life are disappearing. There's a documentary film out called "End of the Line" which is essentially about the end of most seafood by 2048 (ie in our lifetime).

Looking back now to our conversation in late January, it feels oddly foreshadowing.

Part of the horror of reading continuous stories about the oil spill in the gulf is that feeling of not being able to do anything. For the most part, we are a generous nation and with other natural disasters and plagues of humanity, there are incredible NGOs around the world whose infrastructure are in place to channel critical funds, medical services, food, water, living supplies -- who are donation away. With this...the oil is still leaking. And you know deep inside that this is an accident whose economic as well as environmental repercussions will be felt for many, many generations. You can imagine the fates of families directly tied to fishing industries. You see the oil slicked birds and your heart sinks, as you don't want to imagine what's happening beneath the surface. My friend John is an oil trader and has helped me learn a bit more about the ripple effect of 'what this means' in the global economic sense. Like in most things, there aren't black and white easy answers.

So 'in our every deliberation' after the idea, positive change must first begin with action.

As the New York Times reports, Plant A Fish, officially launches this Monday June 7th with kick off around an inaugurial 'oyster planting' in New York Harbor. Fabien has timed the launch of this campaign with what would be the 100 year birthday of his grandfather on June 11th. Oysters, certainly not the most glamourous of our marine life, have a critical function of being the classic bottom feeders in health and restoration for distressed waters. Though we like to pretend we can control our environment (as in what I put in my body, feed my family, put in my home, my city)...like it or not, we're all in one big eco-system, so its not a far leap to connect how aquatic health is directly linked to our fragile planet health, and human health.

The power of a good idea has simplicity, strength and momentum. Many of Susan's vast network of connections have jumped in, feet first, to raise money, strategize, donate time, talent, treasure, help. My former colleague and friend Isabelle is helping run day to day PR. Other friends Paul and Brett have strategized on introductions and VIP connections in the business and political world. Greta from her canyon in Utah has advised on non profit best practices, as well as reaching out to an ex boyfriend in the media to sweetly suggest he cover the event for visibility. 130,000 oysters certainly doesn't 'solve the problem' but everything begins with the first step.

Fabien has quoted a truth his grandfather often said: "People protect what they love."

And another truth comes to mind: You often don't know what you love until it's gone.