Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Inspiration: Todd Barber & Reef Ball Foundation







Here's a story that is very close to my heart.

In the late 80's, while Todd Barber was scuba diving with his father, the two men came across a coral reef that they'd been visiting for a long time. Unfortunately, (or fortunately) the reef had been completely destroyed.

I say fortunately because the shock of this vanished reef inspired Todd to a great work, namely, the creation of the Reef Ball Foundation.

What is a Reef Ball?:

Take a special blend of cement, made to last over 500 years, cast it into the desired shape, and set it on the ocean floor where it serves as a growth platform for reef-building organisms, as well as a wave break to prevent beach erosion. That's a Reef Ball. Still confused? Here's the: Reef Ball wiki.



Todd and the swell kittens over at Reef Ball have since then installed 500,000 Reef Balls worldwide, in more than 59 countries.

Minty.

What an incredible example of the collision of goodwill, technology, and hard work.

Todd Barber, you've made our Tuesday and inspired us to work harder and better.

Look at the great pics up over at ReefBall.org

CNN has a great video piece up: Todd Barber & Reef Ball Foundation @ CNN

And looky here: If you die and would like your ashes cast into a Reef Ball and placed on the ocean floor, check out these guys: Eternal Reefs

Great stuff.

Good Looking out, Todd Barber and Co.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Hi Jackson, thanks for the nice tribute.....but the real heros are all the people around the world that do projects....Reef Ball Foundation has been so successful because just ordinary people can be given the technology and training to take matters into their own hands and make a real tangible difference to the world around them. And thanks to people like you making a difference getting the word out!

-Todd Barber
Reef Ball Foundation