Her motto is “if you can’t find the sunshine, be the sunshine for someone else!”
At the age of 5 Kaylani started showing great concern for the health and wellbeing of the oceans and the animals that inhabit it. She would not partake in a water ballon fight her friends were doing, instead she cleaned up the balloons so the animals wouldn’t ingest them.
Now at the age of 10 she is the definition of an Ocean Warrior. One of her favorite days was at the July beach cleanup with her friend Sofia. She brought 6 friends with her to the February cleanup who choose to come instead of a birthday party. Her brother and friends picked up 700 pieces of trash that day!
What started out as a poster to represent why she protects the oceans evolved into a shield. While learning about symbolism at her charter school and applying what she’s learning to real life she decided from her Icelandic heritage to create a shield for the oceans.
“The circle represents that we’re all connected.”
The 4 areas of the circle are broken down as,
1-The narwhal and the girl are exhausted from picking up trash
2-The girl is listening to her seahorse tell her all about the trash in the ocean
3-The quote on the left side bottom, says
“without the sea there is no me”
Kaylani says the ‘me’ as in humans.
4-The last is a colorful Stand Up To Trash mermaid picking up trash.”
If you look in the center there’s a tree of life and Kaylani explains that the ocean is our life.
Kaylani is starting a Junior Ambassador Club within Stand Up To Trash called
H2O Protectors (to protect all waters).
She’ll be at each cleanup sharing what’s she’s learned and encouraging others to pick up trash and join her club. K-8 welcomed!
Kaylani’s parents are teaching her about growing her gift to share it to the world.
Some of Kaylani’s favorite things are the ocean, horses and of course her friends and her family.
When asked why she wanted to start her club, “whenever we are driving, I see so much trash on the road and millions of cigarette butts! Some of my friends didn’t think that the trash affects the animals.” Her mom took her on a field trip to The Pacific Marine Mammal Center (we love them!) What they learned was all the trash that was in the tummies of the sea lions. That visual effect was all they needed to convince her friends about the impact trash has on them.
Will you join Kaylani on her movement to make a difference in the world?