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.
Todd Barber Commented!
Hello All,
A big part of the reason this blog was created was because there is such a wealth of people and things in the world that excite and inspire, and we wanted a place to both showcase those things and provide a space for people to comment and (hopefully) for discussions to take place.
Yesterday we wrote a piece about Todd Barber and the extraordinary work that he is doing via his Reef Ball Foundation.
So, imagine our extreme surprise and pleasure in signing in this morning and finding that the man himself had read our post and taken the time to comment on it:
To read his comment more than made our day, it made us want to work harder and better, with as many like minded people as possible.
SF is truly tickled pink.
Thank you, Todd, for taking the time to respond.
We here at SuperForest NYC will be watching you and your team progress with great interest (and hopefully future collaboration!), for many years to come.
You can never underestimate the power of taking the time to reach out to someone.
Yay!!!
-SF
p.s. Just found the Reef Ball Demo video on youtube. Check it out: