What do the Maldives, Svalbard and Thailand have in common?

If you answered – “they all have coastlines” – then I would say you are half way there.

The other thing they have is rubbish along the coastlines, whether it is beaches, rocky coves or headlands.

While I am not a rubbish expert, I know what I have seen and this is how it breaks down:

Svalbard:

Tons and tons of commercial fishing nets and buoys and boxes washed up on beautiful remote beaches.

Maldives:

Let’s see, there are the local commercial fishermen who throw every bit of rubbish on their vessel overboard. Then there are the local islands that don’t have any waste management facilities and the rubbish just gets dumped on pristine beaches. Or we have young Maldivian’s who think the ocean is the rubbish bin and insist on throwing glass bottles over board whenever they are out on a local dhoni (traditional Maldivian boat).

Thailand:

Recently I visited Ko Samet, a very popular island south of Bangkok. One day I decided to walk pretty much the entire length of the east coast. While the beaches with hotels on them were reasonably clean, as soon as you got off the beaten track, rubbish was everywhere. There was loads of discarded styrofoam at one rocky cove I was at. Then there was the rubbish that people had just left behind during their walks – the usual plastic bottles; candy wrappers etc..

What To Do?

You could probably write an essay on all the things you could do to make this situation better. Below are some things that I have implemented

Consume Less

If you consume less, then you produce less waste, which means there is less chance that your waste will some how end up in the waterways of the world. Good examples include (and this isn’t rocket science folks):

1. Stop buying water in plastic bottles.

Instead buy an aluminum bottle and refill it.

2. Don’t buy products that come with styrofoam.

Last year I received a box from TA Macalister Ltd (Nikon New Zealand), which had my recently repaired camera in it. Problem was, the box was filled with tiny styrofoam beads. I wrote to them and told them to NEVER send me a box filled with styrofoam again and hey, it might be time to get into the 21st Century with packaging.

Thailand is still going through it’s  ’let’s package food stuffs on styrofoam bases’ phase. I don’t buy food which is packed this way. And neither should you. If you do, unwrap the product at the check out and give the staff the styrofoam rubbish and say ‘it is not okay to use this in your packaging’. If every single customer did that, they would get the message pretty quick smart.

3. Reduce your plastic bag usage

In Thailand, every time you go shopping you get plastic bags with just about everything. Buy a single piece of fruit and into a plastic bag it goes. I have never seen so much plastic handed out at the supermarket. It is mind blowing. While I do find it difficult to reduce all plastic bag usage, I say ‘no’ to plastic bags as much as I can. This includes plastic bags at the checkout. Instead, I bring my own bags and use them. I’ve heard people say ‘oh yeah, but I forget to take them’. Well, how about getting a bit more organised and not being so lazy? Once you get in the habit, it becomes second nature.

Speak Out

By speak out, I mean telling people that it is not okay to dump their rubbish somewhere other than a rubbish bin.

Example: My wife and I were in Kota Kinabalu in Borneo in June. We were sitting at an outside table at a cafe along the beautiful water front, when some staff at the next cafe down started throwing coasters into the bay. Well let me tell you, when you stand up to a total stranger and tell them it is not okay to throw their rubbish into the ocean, you are making a difference. And if they say ‘it is only a coaster’, you can respond with ‘well, it’s my world too and it is not okay for you to be trashing it’.

Ditto with the Maldivian’s I was with one day on a dhoni who were throwing their glass bottles over board. Or the Maldivian on the local ferry from the airport to the main island who was going through his wallet and throwing bits of paper overboard. Standing up and telling him it wasn’t okay in front of 50-people was just one of those things you sometimes have to do.

Then there was the paying passenger on the ship the Ioffe I was working on last year in the Canadian Arctic, who finished his cigarette and then threw the butt into the ocean. I informed him that it was not okay to do that and there was a cigarette bin literally 10-feet away. That’s called laziness.

Buy Quality Products

We tend to have two choices. One is to buy a quality product and pay more for it. The rationale goes that it is better made and it will last longer. The second choice is to buy cheap. It isn’t made as well, it probably won’t last as long and hey, it didn’t cost much anyway, so what does it matter?

It matters plenty.

If you buy quality products that last longer, it means you are producing less waste. Sure it might be tempting to buy something cheaper now, but will it really be cheaper in the long run? And if you buy something and it breaks within the first couple of weeks, take it back to where you purchased it. Doing this sends a clear message: it is not okay to sell you products that don’t last.

Educate Yourself About Where Your Food Comes From

Are you against the finning of sharks, but you are prepared to eat seafood throughout South East Asia? If that is the case, then chances are you are supporting the very fishermen that fin some of those sharks. Might be time to stop eating seafood caught out at sea. And that is exactly what I did after seeing hundreds of shark fins for sale in Kota Kinabalu in Borneo.

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Now I am sure there are plenty of people who if you have read this far can think of plenty of counter arguments. Here are some that I have heard from friends and colleagues:

Counter argument – “That isn’t enough to make a difference”.

My response – “Doing something is better than nothing and since when did you get so lazy that you couldn’t be bothered doing anything anymore?”

Counter argument – “Just because you won’t eat seafood in South East Asia anymore, doesn’t mean the finning of sharks will stop”

My response – “True. However it is something that I choose not to support and I do that by not buying seafood, either at market or in restaurants”

Counter argument – “Not everyone can stand up to someone and tell them to stop throwing rubbish into the ocean”

My response – “True. There have been times, like when I was on a commercial fishing boat for 5-days, when I didn’t say a word despite rubbish going overboard everyday. When you rely on a crew of working men to bring you back to land from the middle of the Indian Ocean, there are some things better not said”.

Counter argument – “Do you really think it makes a difference?”

My response – “We are all making an impact in one way or another. The question you have to ask yourself is this:

Are you going to be part of the solution or part of the problem?

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And just in case you didn’t realise how bad some of these things are, here are some links to the current state of affairs:

Overfishing

National Geographic Photo Gallery & Text

Shark Finning

Stop Shark Finning

Plastic

Patagonia: A Plague of Plastic

This is just the tip of the iceberg. I’m sure you know of plenty of other issue that should be linked to from here.

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Here are some organisations that are working to improve things and could do with your support:

Ocean Conservancy

Blue Ocean Institute Seafood Guide

Surfrider Foundation

Rise Above Plastics (Click on #6 “Looking to Reduce Your Plastic Footprint” for great everyday ways to reduce the plastic you use).

Run a business? Then why not become a member of One Percent for the Planet (it’s something I’m currently working on).

I know there are plenty more great organisations out there, both big and small, doing something to make things better.

Lastly, no one wants a toxic world (from Surfrider Foundation Australia)

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