Meet Take 3 for the Sea Ambassador, Kal Glanznig
Take 3 for the Sea Ambassadors come from all walks and stages of life. But they all share a passion for the environment and a determination to do what they can to protect it. New Ambassador Kal Glanznig is no exception. Read on to learn what this extraordinary young man has already done and what more he hopes to achieve:
Early Influences
From a young age, Kal Glanznig of Cronulla, New South Wales, Australia was fascinated by the environment. Maybe he was inspired by his mother’s stories of the disappearing sand dunes of Cronulla, or perhaps it was hearing about his father’s expeditions for WWF (World Wildlife Fund) that made caring for the environment a driving force in his life.
Like many of his generation, Kal was awakened to the threat of climate change by watching Al Gore’s influential film An Inconvenient Truth in a science class. This led to a multi-year campaign to reduce his high school’s carbon emissions by installing solar panels on the roof. Not only did his school get the funding for the panels, but he built a framework that inspired and guided other schools through the process of funding their own solar panels. To date, almost 20 schools in the Sydney area have followed this and reduced their emissions.
Having been sickened by the plastic pollution in the waters off Cronulla, Kal proceeded to co-found Plastic Free Cronulla where he worked hand in hand with the Chamber of Commerce and local businesses to turn off the plastic tap in the town. His approach was to use gamification and positivity to encourage local businesses to reduce their plastic use. And business by business, school by school, he built up a movement that changed the narrative on plastic in this area.
Why Take 3 for the Sea?
Kal first came across Take 3 for the Sea when in high school. He loved the Take 3 mission because it is such a simple message that makes us aware of the plastic and waste around us and causes a powerful rewiring of the brain to become part of the solution, not just a passive observer.
We asked Kal what he hoped to achieve as a Take 3 for the Sea Ambassador. He told us, “I want to take this message globally. Through my travels I’ve seen the lack of education about plastic pollution and with the amount of plastic in our ocean increasing across the world now is an important time to get more people to Take 3.”
Kal’s mantra
From campaigning for solar panels to co-founding Plastic Free Cronulla, Kal has always followed this mantra: If you want to change the world, start by changing your world.
On the basis of his environmental work in Australia, Kal was invited as a delegate to COP27 – the United Nations 27th annual meeting on climate change in Sharm El Sheik, Egypt. This opened his eyes to the fact that the environmental problems he was seeing locally were being faced by people all over the world, often with far more extreme consequences. Kal left the meeting more determined than ever to stop environmental damage and fight climate change. This led to his most recent venture – creating video content, in collaboration with Take 3 for the Sea, featuring emerging young environmentalists who can speak directly to Gen Z in voices that resonate with them. Kal hopes his films will take the viewer on a journey across the world to uncover the untold stories of hope and suggest solutions to the climate and ocean plastic crises. This creative work underscores Kal’s belief that hope for our planet lies in action. The problems we face may be big and complex, but if you want to change the world, start by changing your world, and it all starts with one first step.
Thank you, Kal, for becoming a Take 3 for the Sea Ambassador, and thank you for the work you are doing to protect our planet!
