Little Miss Hula Hoop: Environmentalist and Entrepreneur

[Hooping.org columnist Lara Eastburn gets the hoop scoop on one cool hooping kid.]

by Lara Eastburn

This weekend, the town of Duncan in British Columbia, Canada, is sure to be abuzz about the newest hooping business in town. Little Miss Hula Hoop will be vending hoops at a local music festival and donating half her profits to help stop the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline, a pipeline that would travel through nearly 1,170km of pristine wilderness and First Nations homelands. Who’s behind this budding hoop business with an environmental cause? Little Miss Hula Hoop herself is perhaps the youngest hooping entrepreneur we’ve seen yet. Meet 10 year-old Trinity.

Trinity is part of a large hooping family, the eldest of 6 children growing up on Vancouver Island with parents Campbell and Shelby. She has been hooping for two years now and it was “love at first spin.” She and her siblings are educated in the “Unschooling” philosophy, which in their family is defined as Child-Led Learning. Trinity’s mother explained, “We allow our children to follow their interests and passion. My husband and I provide the opportunity and tools they ask for or need.” Trinity is also a child of the ocean. When she’s not hooping, she wants to be surfing. And environmental issues are close to her heart. When Trinity grows up, she’d like to be a marine biologist so that she can work to protect our oceans and sea creatures “with a hoop in her hand.”

So when Trinity learned there were plans for an oil pipeline to pass through her province and ocean, she instantly knew she wanted to join the efforts to stop it. She would make hula hoops to sell at an upcoming festival to raise funds for the cause. She researched websites, figured up her costs versus profits and approached her parents with a business plan. Trinity was willing to put all of her savings into the venture and her parents agreed to match their daughter’s investment to get her started.

“She has been working hard making hoops and will be donating part of her proceeds to help with funding the No Tankers Ball as well as PacificWild.org,” reports her mom. “Her Father and I are so proud of her for wanting to be involved with protecting our Coast Lines and keeping oil tankers off our shores. Trinity is taking her love of hooping and helping a good cause. She is very self-motivated and I have no doubt in my mind this little girl is going to change the world.”

We here at hooping.org couldn’t agree more! You can lend your support to Trinity, too, by leaving comments for her here and visiting her Facebook page and YouTube channel.

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Lara Eastburn has been dancing in meadows and singing with the moon while spinning in circles for eons at Superhooper.org. Beyond commenting here, you can also discuss this and other topics related to the Hooposophy for living in Hooping.org’s Hooposophy Group and Forum. Lara is also the planting and gardening force behind discovering our hooping community roots at The Hooping Family Tree Project.

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