[Marine Debris Special] 3 New Concepts for Reducing Plastic in Daily Life That Every Ocean Person Must Know

As 2019 draws to a close, the Editor considers this the founding year of marine debris coverage at BlueTrend — the year the issue truly came alive on this platform. Although the Editor has long joined many mentors in beach cleanup and ocean cleanup activities, it was after a wildly impulsive investment in underwater photography gear — enough to rival the cost of a heavy motorcycle — at the start of 2019 that the Editor turned to a camera lens to document the destruction beneath the surface. We're truly grateful for your support; every marine debris–related video consistently attracts an enormous amount of sharing, allowing us to shine a broader light on the challenges our oceans face. Thank you to Air 空氣吸管 for sponsoring this [Marine Debris Special] on plastic reduction methods — head to Zeczec crowdfunding and support the ocean with action! Crowdfunding link: http://bit.do/fdRTX

Where It All Began...

Chen Xin-zhu is, for the Editor, perhaps the most inspiring mentor encountered through beach cleanup activities. Without any corporate sponsorship, he founded the "Hands-On Love Taiwan" community entirely on his own initiative, rallying volunteers time and again to join beach cleanups — from just 3 participants at the very first event to over a hundred at every gathering since. His steadfast dedication is something we younger generations can truly learn from.

Chen Xin-zhu: A beach cleanup is not the endpoint of marine debris — it is the starting point for rethinking the relationship between people and the ocean.

• Redefining the Direction of Life Through Beach Cleanups — Hands-On Love Taiwan's Chen Xin-zhu

Ocean Cleanup Changed the Way I See the Ocean...

Just as Chen Xin-zhu is the face of land-based beach cleanup, Instructor Lin You-ping is the face of underwater ocean cleanup. Shortly after finishing his own scuba diving training, the Editor once puzzled over a question posed to his dive instructors at the time: why are Taiwan's waters so devoid of fish? Why is there so much underwater debris? Yet those instructors, whose livelihoods depended on the ocean, had no answer. It was through that search that the Editor eventually heard of an instructor in Keelung's Chaojing who was actively championing the ocean cleanup cause — that was the Editor's first encounter with Instructor Lin You-ping, and the beginning of a three-year underwater ocean cleanup journey.

Instructor Lin You-ping: What we need to clean is not the ocean — it's the human heart!

• From Tech Geek to Garbage Gardener of Keelung's Chaojing Park — DivingMate Lin You-ping

Marine Debris Through the Editor's Lens in 2019 — Penghu's South Four Islands

In early summer, the weather around Penghu's South Four Islands is still unsettled. The Editor pushed through Force 8 gusts and 2-metre swells to reach the islands — all to remove by hand the abandoned fishing nets and rubbish that had been piling up on the seabed. How many Taiwanese have never set foot on these remote outer islands? But do you know that Penghu South Four Islands National Park boasts one of the highest coral coverage rates in Taiwan's history, with an underwater ecosystem that rivals world-class international dive sites? The stark reality, however, is that underwater debris is everywhere.

Led by Wu Zu-xiang ("Shark Brother"), chairman of the #PenghuSouthFourIslandsConservationAssociation, and with the assistance of Ye Sheng-hong from Island Ao 77, set to the original composition You Can Do It by Hsu Hsiu-lin, we used the camera to show friends in Taiwan and around the world the beauty and heartbreak beneath Penghu's waters.

• An Ocean Movement Anyone Can Start — Wu Zu-xiang, "Shark Brother"

• The Path of a Fishing Village's Transformation After Putting Down the Speargun — South Four Islands' Ye Sheng-hong Tells His Story

Marine Debris Through the Editor's Lens in 2019 — Keelung's Heping Island, a Sea of PET Bottles

Keelung is the Editor's summer scuba diving base. The underwater debris at Chaojing Park, where we dive regularly, has largely been cleared by our efforts (laughs). But the nearby Heping Island — always packed with land-based tourists — has not been so fortunate. Thanks to its uniquely flat bay topography, floating debris — chiefly PET bottles — accumulates here in abundance. Calling it a "sea of PET bottles" is no exaggeration. To borrow Instructor Lin You-ping's words: what we need to clean is not the ocean, but the human heart. When you strap on over 20 kg of scuba gear and still only manage to retrieve a tiny fraction of the rubbish down there, you naturally start to reconsider every single-use plastic item before you reach for it next time.

• 【Diving with Da-Tou-Shi】How to Organise a Safe Underwater Ocean Cleanup Dive

Wake up! Throwing your rubbish in a bin is actually where the harm to our planet begins!

Whenever the Editor gives a talk or presentation, someone in the audience will naively say: "I always throw my rubbish in the bin — so marine debris has nothing to do with me, right?" NO — NO — NO! That question actually opens up a whole system of deeper problems that the Editor couldn't fully explain even with a dissertation spanning tens of thousands of words.

To put it simply: setting aside the question of whether landfill waste might one day find its way into the ocean, if your rubbish is "lucky" enough to travel through proper channels and reach an incinerator, the dioxins produced when plastic burns become an entirely separate and even more serious environmental issue. Take PET bottles as another example. Taiwan's PET bottle recycling rate is said to rank among the highest in the world — yet the recycling process itself consumes a significant amount of water, and bottle caps and labels cannot be recycled at all. It is said that mountains of unprocessable bottle labels are piling up somewhere in Taiwan right now. The moment you buy a PET bottle because you're thirsty, you are generating a piece of waste that cannot be fully dealt with.

• Wake Up! Throwing Your Rubbish in a Bin Is Actually Where the Harm to Our Planet Begins!

The Right Approach to Reducing Plastic in Daily Life Is the Real Solution!

The items in the photo above are the plastic regulars of our everyday lives. As environmental awareness has grown, plastic bag usage has decreased — ever so slightly — but the use of disposable chopsticks, straws, and PET bottles has skyrocketed alongside the surge in people eating out. Plastics were invented during World War II and subsequently adopted widely in consumer life, undeniably accelerating the progress of human civilisation. But perhaps the following three suggestions can help us gradually reduce our dependence on plastic products in day-to-day living.

TIP 1: Get Actively Involved in Beach Cleanups and Ocean Cleanups

Office workers spend their weekdays cooped up in a corner of the workplace, crushed by the weight of professional pressure, with the concrete jungle stretching their nerves to the limit. Why not take advantage of a fine day and roll up your sleeves for a beach cleanup or ocean cleanup? The concept of the working holiday, which has been trending overseas in recent years, is gradually making its way into East Asian society — giving people an opportunity to pursue a sense of purpose and social impact beyond the conventional life goals of work and money, and becoming a genuine force for good.

While we always stress that beach cleanups and ocean cleanups are never the ultimate answer to marine debris, every time you take part in one, you begin to reflect on the relationship between humanity and nature. In a society that prizes rapid growth, must the dynamic between humans and the natural world always be purely extractive — people taking from nature with nothing given in return? Can we not give something back? In fact, we should be making amends — returning to the earth everything that humanity has imposed upon it.

And don't forget: after joining a beach cleanup or ocean cleanup, snap a photo and show it off! Doing good should be widely known. Through the ripple effect of social media and personal platforms, your social influence will quietly and steadily grow, touching the lives of the people around you.

TIP 2: Before You Reach for It — Stop and Think!

If you've ever taken part in a beach cleanup and picked up over a hundred straws from the shoreline in the space of just one hour, chances are the next time you reach for a straw you'll pause and think: do I actually need this? Instructor Lin You-ping once shared a telling experience: on a dive trip abroad, he noticed a fellow diver in the group drinking juice through a straw and said directly, "You drink beer straight from the bottle — so why do you need a straw for juice?" Perhaps it's the product of years of ingrained habit: juice and Yakult just come with a straw, no questions asked.

Similar examples are endless. Think about buying breakfast on the go — from purchase to finishing the meal might take all of ten minutes, yet it involves a plastic bag, a plastic carry bag, a plastic cup, disposable chopsticks, and a straw. Stop and think: do you actually need all of that?

TIP 3: When You Have Alternatives to Plastic — Actually Use Them!

As conservation awareness continues to grow, more and more alternatives to plastic products are hitting the market. Beyond making sure the materials are durable and easy to clean, the most important thing is actually this: use them — often! The Editor has seen plenty of friends invest in all sorts of plastic-free alternatives, only to leave them sitting at the bottom of their bags — and then reach for disposable chopsticks and single-use cups when they're out anyway. If products made in the name of sustainability never get used, they can't play the role they were meant to — and they simply become another waste of production resources.

Reducing plastic is a lifestyle choice, but never pressure the people around you to live by your standards. Real change comes when it's embraced from the heart — that's when it becomes a genuine personal commitment to the environment.

Finally, a heartfelt thank-you once again to Air 空氣吸管 for sponsoring this [Marine Debris Special]. Their campaign on Zeczec crowdfunding is entering its final countdown. If you'd like to start cutting plastic from your life, support them with action today!

• Air 空氣吸管 Zeczec crowdfunding link: http://bit.do/fdRTX

• Air 空氣吸管 | The Aesthetic Convenience of Eco-Friendly Straws — Facebook Page