The Clean-Up Kid: 13 Year-Old Ocean Conservationist Cash Daniels On How Kids Are The Future Of Ocean Advocacy

Jason Elias: 0:08

Hi and welcome to the Big Deep podcast. Big Deep is a podcast about people who have a connection to the ocean, people for whom that connection is so strong it defines some aspect of their life. Over the course of this series we'll talk to all sorts of people and in each episode we'll explore the deeper meaning of that connection. Today I speak with a young ocean conservationist who started his own environmental organization at the young age of 13. Hello, this is your host, jason Elias. Welcome to the Big Deep podcast. In today's episode I speak with Cash Daniels, an ocean and river conservationist, time Magazine honorary finalist as kid of the year and co-founder of the ocean activism and conservation nonprofit called the Cleanup Kids. Cash had been a big fan of the show for a while, but, as someone being so engaged in ocean conservation at such a young age, I felt Cash's story was impressive and thought he might make a great guess. And, as it turns out, I was right, as he was thoughtful, well-spoken and deeply driven to help other kids realize they can make a difference. But beyond that, as the father of a young boy myself, I found myself inspired as he represented the next generation of kids getting involved. So when I spoke with Cash last year. He told me a bit about how he first felt a connection with the ocean, why we need to bring more attention to the world's rivers, and the time he connected with sharks off the coast of Florida.

Cash Daniels: 1:42

My name is Cash Daniels and I am 13 years old from Chattanooga, tennessee.

Jason Elias: 1:47

So, cash, can you tell me when you first remember thinking you could have an impact on protecting the ocean?

Cash Daniels: 1:53

The first time, I think, I really connected with the water. I was seven years old, on a beach vacation with my family in Daytona and I found a plastic straw on the beach and earlier that day I had seen a manta ray and a sea turtle swimming off a pier and I pieced together that that plastic straw would harm those animals, so I knew I had to do something to protect those animals.

Jason Elias: 2:24

Right. Well, it's super impressive what you've already accomplished with your organization, Cleanup Kids. So can you tell me a bit more about why you formed the organization and what you focus on?

Cash Daniels: 2:35

Yes, thank you. My organization is called the Cleanup Kids, a 501c3 nonprofit I founded with my best friend, ella, who lived in Canada. We have kids overseas in Australia, in the Bahamas, canada and the US so singularly used plastics are the worst, since we can only use them once and then we just throw them out. It all ends up in water because it breaks down and then when it rains, it washes into storm drains and then makes its way to the rivers and then eventually to the ocean to make all these ginormous garbage patches, because 80% of all ocean trash actually comes from rivers. The Tennessee River is actually the most polluted microplastics in any other river tested in the world, and in the river is the paddlefish it feeds on micro plankton live in the river and it is endangered because it goes along feeding and all those micro plastics that are in the river and it digest that and Since plastic doesn't biodegrade, it makes them feel like they're full, but they're really not, so then they starve to death. So our big goal for the cleanup kids is to pick up one million pieces of trash, and I'm proud to say we are 750,000 pieces in around the world.

Jason Elias: 4:00

Right. Well, that's incredible cash and that's the organization, but I'm curious what's below that? What drives you to be so passionate about the ocean that you actually want to get involved?

Cash Daniels: 4:17

What I think drives me to do something for the environment is is that Kids are the future, and it's important for kids to know that doesn't matter how young or old you are, that you can make a difference. We only have one planet, so without a healthy environment, we as humans can't survive. I've actually scuba dive in the river and I protect it because I love animals. So I knew if I didn't do anything then it would just get worse, and it drives me to do something for the environment in a passionate way.

Jason Elias: 5:11

Well, your passion is evident and is a great reminder of how everyone can make a difference, regardless of where we are, from what our circumstances or even how old we are. So now I'd love to hear a story from you where you felt personally connected to being in the water. Oh yes, I love sharks and I really want to be a conservation filmmaker, like my friend Jim Abernathy.

Cash Daniels: 5:43

He is an amazing shark conservationist and I recommend him to be on here one day. So the time that I felt the most deeply connected to the water was in Florida, off West Palm Beach, and I was with Jim Abernathy and we were going to the beach and we were going out to dive with sharks. The water wasn't calm that day, it was actually pretty rough. We are about seven miles out to sea. It was really deep. There were about 30 lemon sharks and some bull sharks down at the bottom of the school, but the sharks you could see in their eyes that they weren't the mindless man-eaters that movies and the internet depicts them to be. Jim says you can Make a connection with those sharks and I did. That day. I Made a connection with those sharks. After that experience I was more deeply connected to the ocean Because after being in the water with them, I knew I had to save those sharks.

Jason Elias: 7:25

Finally, we end every interview and every episode with a single open-ended question. We ask everyone we talk to what does the ocean mean to you?

Cash Daniels: 7:36

The ocean, to me, means life, because Without a healthy ocean and healthy rivers we can't have a healthy ecosystem, and without a healthy ecosystem we can't live on this planet.

Jason Elias: 7:53

Thanks for listening to the Big Deep podcast Next time on Big Deep.

Cash Daniels: 7:59

Saving their lives is we're paying my debt to the species that have kept me alive the all these years, and Not how far short of my destiny to not have ended up in prison or in jail. They saved me, for us.

Jason Elias: 8:12

We really appreciate you being on this journey into the Big Deep as we explore an ocean of stories. If you like what we're doing, please make sure to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. Also, please find us on the socials where you can like and comment, because those subscribes, likes and comments really make a difference For more content from our interviews in our series, photos of every guest or just to get in touch, please reach out at our website, big deep comm Plus. If you know someone you think we should talk to, please let us know at our big deep website, as we are always looking to hear more stories from interesting people who are deeply connected to our world's oceans. Thanks again for joining us.