“I recently invited people to pick up trash in Ari. It’s easy to assume that Ari is cleaner than other areas, but after walking with a group, picking up trash from Gump Ari to Yellow Lane Cafe , we found the same shocking amount of trash just like any other area. As someone who grew up and works with the sea, I’d like to remind everyone that trash from anywhere can end up in the sea. As long as we cannot find a way to reduce our consumption, the trash incinerators or recycling centers alone will never be enough, and the trash will eventually be blown from the landfill to the water, ending up in the ocean.
The most commonly found trash in Ari is cigarette butts. This is tricky because many people don’t know that the butts are primarily made of plastic. People can smoke quite a number of cigarettes per day and ideally will always put them out in an ashtray. Of course, that doesn’t happen and as they are small, they tend to go unnoticed in the waters.
When I volunteered to look after “Marium the Dugong”, I was devastated because we were the last group of volunteers before she passed away and the autopsy found out that her stomach was full of trash with plastic stuck in her intestines. After that, I make sure I have time to do some beach clean-up every time I go diving. It’s not just a holiday destination, the sea is the largest food source for the whole world..”
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