Miss Earth 2024 Jessica Lane swaps crown for trash bag as Ocean Lovers Festival gets underway in Bondi

The first Aussie to hold a unique international beauty pageant title has spoken of her “crazy” experience winning the title and how she plans to transform the fashion industry.

A beauty pageant champion crowned the first ever Australian to win a unique international environmental pageant has revealed how she plans to transform the fashion industry to embrace “sustainable” practices.

Jessica Lane became the first Australian in history to win the Miss Earth pageant - an international event channelling the beauty pageant entertainment industry as a way to promote environmental awareness.

“I’ve done sustainable fashion modelling for about two years now because I’m studying to be an environmental journalist and I’ve always had such a great passion for the environment and being an advocate,” Ms Lane said.

Ms Lane is now leading the charge at Sydney’s famous Bondi Beach for the Ocean Lovers Festival this weekend to help bring change to the fashion industry - moving it away from unsustainable practices.

The Sydney-wide festival runs throughout March and has returned to its birth place, bringing markets, music, films and more to promote ocean awareness to a younger generation.

The Sydney-wide Ocean Lovers Festival has come back to its birthplace, Bondi Beach, for the weekend. Picture: NewsWire / Damian Shaw

“The passion from our ocean-loving community is at its peak in Bondi,” festival founder Anita Kolni said.

At the heart of the Ocean Lovers Festival is a mission to “inspire real hope and action for a thriving healthy ocean”, Ms Kolni said.

“Together, we can turn ripples of action into waves of lasting change.”

The festival showcases science, ideas, innovations and state-of-the-art technology and will have bands, expert panels, and talks.

World famous shark expert, filmmaker and marine conservationist Valerie Taylor AM will appear at the Festival this weekend. Picture: Supplied.

Big names at the event include Miss Earth 2024, Jessica Lane, Australian conservationist and diver Valerie Taylor and world-record holding solo sailor Lisa Blair.

Ms Lane will be participating in and hosting events over the weekend at the Festival. Picture: NewsWire / Damian Shaw

She won Miss Earth 2024, beating 76 other contestants from all over the globe. Picture: Supplied/Miss Earth

Ms Lane was working as a cadet national TV Journalist at WIN when she was asked to participate in one of the Big Four beauty pageants.

It was a “crazy” experience for the 22-year-old Sunshine Coast-based Aussie.

“I was still studying at university full time and I just thought, well, it’s only a couple of days ... and I love fundraising,” Ms Lane said.

The environmental journalism student said the pageant offered her a way to not only “talk the talk through my journalism (but) walk the walk and use my platform to promote sustainable brands, sustainable fashion and just reduce, reuse, recycle”.

“The textile industry is actually the second biggest carbon emitter industry in the world and it’s something that every single person has the power to change,” Ms Lane said.

“So many people think that they can’t look good and dress well and take care of the environment and to me it isn’t a discussion - looking good should never come at the harm of our environment,” she continued.

One of the events at the Ocean Lovers Festival was the Marine Debris Trashion Show, bringing attention to the amount of discarded waste on Aussie beaches. Picture: NewsWire / Damian Shaw

Taking the crown against 16 other Aussies, Ms Lane then flew to the Philippines to represent Australia on the world stage against 76 other countries at the Miss Earth pageant.

It was an “incredible experience” for Ms Lane, who said they were involved in charity visits, environmental conservation activities, tree plantings, school tours, volunteering experiences and typhoon refuge.

Ms Lane made history when she became the first Australian to ever win the Miss Earth pageant, which has been running for a quarter of a century.

She was also the first Aussie to take the crown at a Big Four pageant since 2004.

“Miss Earth does such good work - they do so much not-for-profit work and they’re constantly educating and empowering young people and young women especially,” Ms Lane said.

The winner holds the title of Miss Earth for a year, during which they can use the globally platform to magnify the causes they believe in.

“I’m just trying to make the absolute most of that here in Australia and in the world,” Ms Lane said.

“Women are still judged on their looks immediately no matter what industry they work in, so why not harness that and use it to create positive change?”

Sea Shepard works closely with the Ocean Lovers Festival and hosted the community clean-up at Bondi Beach. Picture: NewsWire / Damian Shaw

Another area Ms Lane advocates for is the ocean, which was why the Ocean Lovers Festival reached out to her.

“I work closely with the Nets Out Now Coalition and the Sea Shepherd and now Ocean Lovers Festival.”

For Ms Lane, the Festival - held at such an iconic Australian location - is an opportunity for her to immerse herself with the ocean-loving community and facilitate conversations about what she is most passionate about.

“We have some very incredible innovators here in Australia ... it feels like history in the making a little bit here,” she said.

“I love watching the young minds get inspired.”

Over the weekend, Ms Lane will be participating in the beach clean-up, giving an educational talk, and then hosting a film screening about Lisa Blair.

Lisa Blair, who holds eight world records and is the fastest person to solo circumnavigate Antarctica, will present at the Ocean Lovers Festival. Picture: Supplied.

Ms Blair holds eight world records and is the fastest person to solo circumnavigate Antarctica as part of a climate action mission to reveal the prevalence of microplastics in our global oceans.

On Sunday, Ms Lane will also be involved in presenting artworks by primary and high school students.

“The artworks are inspired by our oceans, but created through litter. And the inventions are all obviously for ocean sustainability and conservation,” Ms Lane said.

“It’s just really great to see young minds at work and put to the test, and to get to know that the future of our oceans is in safe hands.”

Originally published as Miss Earth 2024 Jessica Lane swaps crown for trash bag as Ocean Lovers Festival gets underway in Bondi