When a small school in India launched a competition in 2016, asking students to innovate solutions for problems they felt passionate about, little did they know that their winning entry was likely to generate a significant advance in the collection of plastic waste from the oceans.
In March of this year, when the cargo ship Ever Given became stuck in the Suez canal, blocking a critical trade route for hundreds of cargo ships, there was scarcely a person in the world who did not hear about the news. The incident shone a light on the sheer scale of the shipping industry, that most-present and yet little-seen form of mass movement of goods.
June 18, 2021 – Malibu, California – Plastic Oceans International today announces that Chilean wine brand, Montes Wines, has joined its Trees & Seas festival as the Presenting Sponsor, adding to an impressive list of partners for this first-time event.
Cartagena, Colombia, has recently been added to Plastic Oceans International’s growing BlueCommunities initiative, making it the 14th location with this global program. Joining the effort there is local partner Fundación Bahía.
― Nikos Kazantzakis, Zorba the Greek
What brings you happiness? A meal with family, drinks with friends, skipping rocks over a lake, Netflix and chill….
Whatever it is that brings you happiness was made possible by the ocean. Today – World Ocean Day – is one for reconnecting with the ocean, as it connects us all. It regulates the Earth’s temperature, feeds the world, provides us much of the air we breathe, allows us to transport products around the world, and provides many people with their livelihoods. Throughout history the ocean’s mystery has also given inspiration to language, folklore, stories and religion.
It happens. You’re sitting in the dark recesses of your living room and you hear it … “in the arms of the angel, far away from here” … it’s that sad puppy PSA with Sarah McLachlan. It’s not that you don’t like it – it’s powerful and enlightening. It’s just that you’ve seen it so many times and cried a little. Now you just feel bad and guilty.
Guided by the pale moonlight peeking through the clouds above, Luis Antonio Góngora Domínguez walks his careful patrol along the Payucan beachfront in the Campeche state of southern Mexico. There is no one else in sight, but he knows he is not alone.
For many, plastic pollution is often looked at as being just an oceans-based issue. That’s what tends to get covered in the media, so it’s understandable, but as more research continues to reveal, it is as much or more of a problem on land and in our freshwater sources.
Santiago, Chile, May 20, 2021 – Plastic Oceans International today announces the passing of new legislation in Chile that will implement regulations to greatly reduce single-use plastic waste throughout the country. Although just a formality, the bill will now go to the President for signing and then presented as a public notice, at which time it will become national law.
It’s increasingly being realized in progressive environmental endeavors that local autonomy and engagement is key. In part this is because clearly nobody knows their immediate space better than those who live there; and secondly because the only way that any project achieves that most elusive of attributes – legacy – is if real people on the ground live and breathe an action and take it forward.
