This wasn’t the usual “tourist request” for a visit.. I went today to see the recycling center in Santa Cruz, Galapagos. Met Jorge, the everyday hero, who together with his team are recycling the plastic and trash of the island. After the beautiful images I shared with you last days, it may be hard to look at this but it’s important to know it exists! These paradisiaque islands are more and more victims of plastic and garbage arriving from the ocean and landing on the pristine beaches. We need to do something about it at the source.. any careless action in our day to day consumption behavior will certainly end up here and other places! The nature miracle called Galapagos belongs to all of us, and to our children, we are all responsible for its protection!
Another everyday hero I met here is Carolina, a dedicated marine biologist, who together with her husband are working hard to save one of the endangered birds of Galapagos. In addition to this amazing scientific project and to being a busy young mother, Carolina found the time and passion to bring to the island the “precious plastic” project. It is a movement created to help recycle plastic in remote areas, using an easy to assemble machine and various metal molds to re-shape the recycled plastic in beautiful objects: key holders, trays, cups and even jewelry! Her idea in creating these beautiful pieces is to have tourists buy them as souvenirs and taking some of the plastic away from the island! Also, these recycled pieces (which could be recycled over and over again) can be a reminder for all of us, when we go back to our lives, to be more responsible about our plastic usage. I received this beautiful tortoise, which will be my token from today onwards to make myself more accountable about my day-to-day behavior affecting the environment!
I am truly HOPEful that collectively we can do so much good and that every little action counts!
Tomorrow will take you on Cousteau’s foot steps, diving in an amazing location!
Yours,
Irina aka Ocean Amazon
