Meet Anna Marie Pitman of Eco-Legends in Venice Beach

Today we’d like to introduce you to Anna Marie Pitman.

Anna Marie, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I am lucky enough to say I grew up in beautiful Sydney, Australia and spent all my youth playing, swimming, snorkeling, bushwalking, and general adventuring around the most incredible beaches & bays. It was epic & solidified the foundation for a deep love, respect, and connection to the ocean.

After I graduated university (BA in Film, Politics & Spanish) and had a few years of film production work under my belt, I decided to head out into the world and made the big leap to try my luck in the ultimate mega city; NYC! I turned up with just a backpack and three phone numbers pretty much written on a napkin, hoping one of them would give me a job. Luckily one of them did!

One year quickly turned into nine years of calling NYC my home and wholeheartedly having the time of my life! I absolutely loved NYC and the crazy, frenetic & palpable energy and mix of people from all walks of life. Although one element I struggled with was that my access to the ocean was so limited.

I tried to work with what the east coast had to offer and many of my NY friends can attest to my crazy pilgrimages to the Rockaway beaches even late in November to get my fix. I definitely questioned my sanity after each plunge into the Atlantic.

A quick work trip to Los Angeles (and an encouraging friend) convinced it was time to thaw out under the sunny skies & palm trees of Los Angeles. Within a blink, I had packed up my NY life and moved to the west coast, I was so happy to be back playing in the Pacific Ocean again.

Having moved to a tiny bungalow on Venice beach, I was excited to start and end my days with beach walks and swims. I was back in my element. However, what should have been calming and restorative beach time, quickly became a stressful wake-up call. I could not ignore the fact that there was so much rubbish washing up on the beach every day and the overwhelming majority of it was made from plastic.

I would (and still do) spend all my walking time bending down to picking up trash, each day trying to make a dent and clean my little section the beach, except each day would present a new wave of plastic to clean up. It is so upsetting, and it was making me angry & then incredibly sad again. The realization of the negative impacts that humans have on our environment was hitting hard, it was brutal and confronting.

After a few months of this, I was sick of feeling angry at little pieces of candy wrappers and discarded straws. I decided to harness that energy to do something about it and turn it into positive actions. Thus Eco Legend was born!

Has it been a smooth road?
Apart from the normal set up challenges to any new business and community base, I think the biggest struggle with Eco Legends, and really the global plastic problem as a whole, is the task of trying to change & shift peoples reliance on plastic.

Society in the last 30 -40 years have become so reliant plastic and our single-use convenience lifestyle has become the norm, so the struggle is to be able to try and shift peoples daily habits and peoples awareness to the issues of plastic. Once there is awareness, then actions start taking place. People can start changing their daily habits & use their purchase power to buy sustainable & eco-friendly products rather than the conveniently and cheap deadly plastic that surrounds almost everything in the supermarkets these days.

I have to say one of the biggest challenges is managing the feeling of being overwhelmed by the magnitude of the task to eliminate plastics from the world. Let’s face it there is plastic everywhere! It is sometimes hard to see why saving one plastic fork, or one straw or one coffee cup is going to make a difference when you turn around, and there are huge corporations dishing out single-use plastic every second and tons of trash being created by humans daily.

The only way I know how to deal is to remain focused on the scope that I can help affect change. I may not be able to change the entire world, but I can focus on making positive changes within my little world and encourage the community around me to do the same. Start small and work your way outward. They say you never know the ripple effects of your actions.

Although the task is daunting, there is hope every day, as the more, I learn about the issue the more I am exposed to people doing amazing things toward the good of the environment there is a global awareness growing and the anti-plastic movement finally has momentum.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Eco-Legends – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
@ecolegends’ goal is to not only provide alternative eco-friendly products but also to bring together an eco-conscious community, where we can create awareness and problem to solve these plastic/waste issues together.

The first order of business for Eco Legends is targeting single-use plastics, by providing plastic free, sustainable, eco-friendly alternative products the aim is to educate & prove how easy substitution to eco-friendly products is. More importantly, ECO legends try to encourage that we each take responsibility for our daily actions & environmental footprint.

If we all take on the responsibility to look at our own impact, then as individuals we change those little things that we are in control of each day. If 8 billion people take responsibility, then we will not be in the problematic situation we are currently in.

The plan is for ECO LEGENDS to host educational & fundraising events, beach cleanups, coral gardening, waste reduction tips & talks, discussions & of course ADVENTURES!!!.

I am excited to activate and collaborate with people and build a community of like-minded humans. Oh and help SAVE THE PLANET!

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
The best thing about the city is that weather is reliably amazing and you get the choice of beaches, mountains, deserts or forests all within a few miles of each other, to enjoy it. I love that people in LA are enthusiastic about outdoor activities and keen for an adventure!

I love that the myriad of cultures has given LA an ever-evolving and diverse selection of food options, from 5-star star-studded restaurants to unique eats from a food truck in a parking lot. The museums and concert venues are world class and draw superior art and music, which makes the daily battle with crazy traffic worth it.

Like many cities, LA has a dark side. Not just with superficiality & fame-obsessed culture that much if the film / TV industry is powered by, but the biggest problem I see with LA, is the number of homeless people living on the streets. The city has somehow become immune to this ever-growing population of people falling through the cracks, which has doubled over the last four years. Although is it part of a bigger national health care / mental health issue, ignoring the issue is not acceptable. I implore people to pay attention, donate their time or money to help combat those who are not “living their best life”.

Pricing:

• Bamboo Cutlery Set – $16
• Cool Ass Reusable Coffee Cups – $15
• Straws that Dont Suck – 4 pack – $12

Contact Info:

• Address: Venice, CA
• Website: https://www.eco-legends.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ecolegends/?hl=en

Image Credit:
Anna Pitman

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