As a part of the celebration for Earth Month, the Green Living Show took place April 12th-14 in Toronto. Celine Cousteau, granddaughter of the oceanographer Jacques Cousteau, spoke at the show and accepted an award on behalf of her family’s ocean conservation initiatives. On Friday afternoon, Contiki Travel Canada held a media lunch with Celine at The Bloke and 4th.

Like her grandfather, Celine is dedicated to oceanic conservation. Acting as Contiki’s Sustainability Partner, she works with the Mesoamerican Reef (MAR) Leadership program, supporting young environmentalists working on the preservation of 1000km of reef along the coast of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras. Celine’s medium is film, and in addition to her work with Contiki, she creates exposure for the causes she partakes in. Through CauseCentric, the nonprofit organization that Celine founded, as well as collaborations with non-profits and individuals, she creates short documentaries and various television programming for networks such as PBS and Discovery Channel.

Though she is engaged in many projects, Celine admitted that the Amazon rainforest holds a special place in her heart. At the time of her talk she had just flown on a 33 hour flight from Brazil! But knowing that not all of us will be trekking into the heart of Brazil any time soon, Celine offered a few ideas for affecting change in our day-to-day lives. She named sustainable seafood and eco-friendly travel as two options people can consider. (The Food Dudes, who catered the lunch, did so using only sustainable seafood dishes!)

When asked what advice she would offer younger generations, she hesitated, then said half-jokingly, “Get your shit together…?” She expressed frustration at the current state of disposable e-culture, asking people to put their phones down and engage in real conversation. While she appreciates social media for its sharing potential, she hopes users will be inspired to mobilize themselves, either through direct action (like researching and using eco-friendly travel agencies such as Contiki) or funding projects they want to see succeed. She spoke of the power of today’s youth and the need for action. In this way, Celine’s talk was as much of a challenge as it was an invitation to make change. She askes that we be conscious of our day-to-day decisions, about things like what we eat and how we travel, and take the extra step to make deliberate, informed choices about them. Then maybe we really can get our shit together.