1 Piece Each

Non-profit aiming to educate.

[1pieceeach]

It barely takes a moment out of your life to pick something up and throw it away..

[1pieceeach]

There are two types of passion which can be bred by anger. One of which being hatred, and the other, change. A passion for hatred does no good for the mind, body, or spirit. When one chooses hate over change, they are choosing a negative ripple affect that consumes the world around them. On the other hand, an anger breeding a passion for change can not only change the heart of the passionate, but can ignite a fire for transformation in those around them. Fortunately, this is a story about a passion for change. This is the story of the birth of 1 Piece Each. Around six months ago, Jospeh Cover was enjoying a day at the beach near his home at the time in Bethune, Florida. Many locals will concur that tourism is wonderful for our economy, but horrible for our ecosystems. Cover was about to witness a prime example of this. He was people watching, a common activity here at the beach, and watched as a group of care-free friends unloaded piece after piece of plastic into the sand. This was no case of a litter bug-in simple terms, this was a litter monster. For someone who took great pride in his home, being a spectator of this crime of nature was unbearable. The day that I met Joseph in Starbuck’s, he relayed to me that it took everything in him to not make a fool of himself. He very wisely allowed himself to calm down, rather than attempting to preach to the ignorant. In that very moment, his decision to choose passion for change over passion for hate gave him the strength to conceive a very simple phrase which would later become his slogan, “one piece each”. The idea behind this was that if each person could pick up just one piece of garbage from the beach, our environment would be in a much healthier state. Cover’s brief moment of clarity panned out into a full-fledged reality in a matter of weeks. He contacted a local t-shirt printing company and had his slogan and design produced. In no time, teachers that Cover had encountered throughout the years had been contacted and invited to join his movement for biospheric recognition. The t-shirts that 1 Piece Each fashioned are now for sale online at 1pieceeach.org for 23$ each. Being that this organization is non-profit, all proceeds from the sales of adult t-shirts contribute to the donation of two child-sized shirts to partnering youth participating in beach clean-ups. Cover stated, “While selling t-shirts is beneficial to getting our name out there, the end goal is always, always, always educating and making the younger generations aware of the world around them.”. 

[mvaljean525]

We are not alone. Let us respect the wonderfully complex world in which we live.

—-

Graphic - Michael Byers

[1pieceeach]

Hello people of the internet and fellow Tumblr fanatics! My name is Tara, and I'm new to blogging. I've always had the intentions to begin a blog, but I never knew what to write or share with the world. That was, until today. My Tuesday evening began like any other- a shopping trip to Target followed by dinner at either Starbuck's or Chipotle. As I pulled into the plaza that housed both of these chains, my hungry stomach couldn't decide whether it wanted a spinach and feta wrap or a sofritas bowl. I sat in my car for a solid ten minutes contemplating these food choices, as if it were a life or death situation. I can't make these things up! After a great deal of thought, my stomach and I decided on Starbuck's (sorry, Chipotle!). I ordered the usual: a spinach, feta and egg white wrap with a caramel iced coffee. As I neared the end of my meal, a man with excited eyes and a flyer in his hand approached me. My first thought was to heed my mothers advice and not talk to the stranger, but the flyer in his hand immediately caught my attention. It displayed photos of smiling kids participating in a beach clean-up, and the names of two web pages (1pieceeach.org and 1 Piece Each Facebook). Anything pertaining to this beautiful blue marble of ours, count me in! The visible passion in this man, who I came to know as Joseph Cover, intrigued me enough to sit and discuss his cause for two hours. With the two of us being Volusia County locals, it was easy to converse over our passion for the ocean and its lack of care for thereof. Throughout thorough conversation, I learned that 1 Piece Each is a non-profit organization, founded by Cover, which aims to spread environmental awareness among youth and businesses nationwide via social media in order to create a cleaner, healthier future for our planet! One of the most spectacular things that Cover and his growing team of earth-enthusiasts have done is organize beach clean-ups, as I mentioned before. They reach out to elementary educators, who in turn take handfuls of students to our shorelines to clear them of litter, and deliver a brief curriculum to the kids about recycling and environmental care. 1 Piece also participates in delivering financially feasible plans to small business owners outlining how they can make the switch to using 100% decomposable products. Be it pure coincidence, or call it fate, 1 Piece Each found a blogger tonight, and I found something worth writing about. I could not be more ecstatic to share this educational journey with such a grounded and pure organization.