Ocean waste, and what can we do about it?
With so much awareness right now about the state of the oceans, it is hard to believe that people still dump so much waste in the ocean.
We educate kids in school. There’s so much media coverage, organisations popping up everywhere, and yet still people are so blind to the impact the ‘developed’ world impacts our beautiful oceans.
The impact isn’t just the disgusting sites of lakes of plastic off the coast of the Caribbean, but it is also the impact on the marine life.
Plastic, cigarette butts, glass bottles, tins and ropes from fishing nets get swallowed by the fish, which then get caught and eaten by us, and if not us, by larger marine life such as dolphins and whales.
I don’t know about you, but the thought of eating a plate of plastic isn’t really the meal I would choose. I mean really, imagine going out for dinner with friends at your favourite restaurant and having them serve you a plate of plastic… would you eat it? No didn’t think so.
Since being in Australia I have had the pleasure of meeting Wild Mob, an organisation that is committed to cleaning up the coral reefs around the Great Barrier Reef. A great initiative that enables you to be part of the solution of cleaning up one of the most beautiful coast lines in the world. One so many people pay £1000’s to visit each year to snorkel, dive and swim in the beautiful turquoise waters.
Today I had the pleasure of also meeting another great guy who has created an incredible concept called G-Cubes, blocks of resin with waste collected from beaches around the world. They are stunning, and there are so many possibilities for them are art pieces in the home, office and schools.
Sailing around the world cleaning up beaches and then creating these beautiful pieces of art whilst on board, is not mean feat. It takes dedication, and takes up a lot of space on board, but when you are a purpose greater than yourself, you just do what is needed to be done.
Ocean waste isn’t just going to go away, and the sooner we all wake up and do something, such as Harald Reichenbach is doing, and the teams at Wild Mob and 4Ocean, the better.
Harold and his team are working with schools, fundraising for environmental initiatives and raising awareness as they sail around the world on the Arc Rally. G-Cubes will be hosting an exhibition and you can find out more about this amazing environmental art project by visiting www.g-cubes.com.
You can get involved and make a difference with all three of the organisations mentioned in this article, and also buy purchasing one of the beautiful resin cubes created by Harald and school children around the world by visiting their website. You can also make donations via the website too.
The biggest thing you can do though is simply stop buying products with excess packaging, and by not dropping it in the first place. We are all responsible for the state of the ocean, so let’s support these great endeavours and clean up our act. We owe it to future generations, as well as the lives that rely on ocean industries such as tourism, fishing and restaurants….not forgetting marine life.
Be the change you want to see in the world may have become a cliche, but it is so true.
And in the words of Micahel Jackson, start with the man in the mirror.
If you want to know more about how you can help, or start believing you can make a difference in the world, then message me to find out more about my coaching services via www.dawnbates.com/coaching