Devoting the last few years of her life to advocating a greener planet is at the heart of Amber Valletta’s agenda.
Actress and model Amber Valletta (Born in 1974) moved to California when her son was six months old. She started working with non-government organizations (NGOs) there, including the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), which works to cut carbon emissions and expand clean energy. Valletta also partnered with Oceana, the nation’s largest international ocean conservation organization on its Seafood Contamination Campaign. “We were involved with ocean cleanups as well as lobbying to shut down coal mines because of the mercury poisoning in fish,” she explains. Eventually Valletta’s ongoing commitment to sustainability caught the attention of the Fashion Institute of Technology, where she joined the school as its first Sustainability Ambassador), and British Vogue, where she serves as contributing editor, offering ways to live a more environmentally friendly lifestyle, from beauty to interior design.
On June 8, Valletta hosted the United Nation’s annual conference on World Oceans Day. The event was organized by Oceanic Global and brought together speakers from over 20 countries to discuss the state of our blue planet. According to Lea d’Auriol, founder of Oceanic Global, “This year, the theme is revitalization—it’s about collective action for the ocean, but also making sure that we’re addressing the climate nexus from a sense of regeneration, looking at how people can proactively be involved in delivering these solutions since so much of the narrative has been so overwhelmingly negative.”
During her opening speech, Valletta addressed the problem of plastic pollution and increased acidification—a process in which higher levels of carbon dioxide in seawater make it hard for organisms like oysters and the petropod—a vital food source for whales—to develop shells. But she was optimistic about humans’ ability to pay more attention to the ocean: “Because nature in its very essence is forgiving, we still have a chance—sometimes something so vast can be taken for granted and undervalued, yet when we give pause to ponder the ocean’s greatness we see the enormity of its importance.”
In addition to lobbying for tighter government regulations, actress Olivia Wilde is holding beauty brands accountable for their practices. “The beauty industry can do so much; first and foremost, phasing out all plastics and making all containers biodegradable and refillable,” she says. In this spirit, Wilde is a big advocate for brands adopting aluminum or glass packaging as much as possible, in addition to rethinking the chemicals that are put into their formulations. La Mer, which sponsored this year’s World Oceans Day, is one of the brands committed to sustainable reformulations. Today, more than 90% of its sea plant ingredients are responsibly sourced and evaluated through their effects on humans, the ecosystem, and environmental health.
Remembering the material that has been purchased, used, and eliminated, it’s crucial to be aware of the fact that anything you bring with you must be disposed of via the appropriate recycling or reusing methods. Valletta adores products such as Christophe Robin’s Shampoo Bar by Christophe Robin and the Ilia True Skin Serum Foundation. As the girl explains, “the key is reducing our ecological impact,” which might entail choosing environmentally friendly solutions whenever possible and finding ways to reduce the overall amount of products purchased and used.
