Comics About Not-So-Funny Plastic Pollution
If you have followed Catamaran Guru over the last couple of years, you will recognize Sarah Steenland’s unique comics about living aboard and sailing life in general. Recently, her hilarious, and often more truth than fiction, comics have way more truth and purpose in them.
The Sea Monkeys (their moniker for their family of 4), started out in 2014 to explore the world (starting in Oceania) on a 41-ft Morgan Out Island monohull yacht. They soon discovered that while they could sail away from the rat race most call normal lifel, they could not sail away from plastic pollution.
They, like other liveaboard cruisers, find no paradise or supposed deserted islands untouched by plastic waste. Instead of sailing past, they decided to do something about it.
The Sea Monkeys Story
The Sea Monkey Plastic Recycling Project
As they sailed the remotest areas of Australia, they witnessed piles of plastic. They did not feel like they could just cruise by it and not try to do something about it. The Sea Monkeys crew, led by their 14-year-old daughter, Sydney have embarked upon on a mission to clean up the plastic in the oceans now in a sustainable way that supports the economy of local, remote communities. And they are focusing on plastics education to stop the constant plastic flow into the oceans.
Sydney leads the Sea Monkey Project plastic recycling and awareness program to clean up and fight plastic pollution including giving talks whever she can, but the whole crew is a part of it. Skipper/dad (Carlos) builds plastic recycling machines (seen at right), Indi (age 11) creates animated videos for plastic education, and helps with workshops, and Sarah/mom creates comics that education about ocean plastic.
Early in the project, they six plastic recycling machine sets in various communities around the world:
- 1 on Jersey Island in the UK
- 5 on Asian islands.
They help sea-side communities set up the machines they build in to create cottage industries that create something valuable from the plastic waste. By making it possible to make money from plastic collection from the sea as well as beaches, sidewalks, streets, and other areas where the plastic will end up flowing to the ocean, there is incentive to keep the removal process going.
Recycled plastic can be used to produce many products, but the main fundraiser to keep the cottage industries going is the manufacture and sale of recycled plastic turtle necklaces. Each turtle pendant purchase supports the plastic recyclers in the community and ocean plastic education programs.
Support Ocean Plastic Pollution Clean-Up
We support the Sea Monkey Project and encourage all our ocean loving friends to do the same!
Here is what you can do:
- Each week focus on a new idea to use fewer plastics in your daily life…re-usable shopping bags, buy more products with glass and paper containers, don’t buy things you don’t really nee, etc.
- Learn more about ocean plastic problem and what you can do. (seamonkeyproject.com may not be available any longer)
- Buy a recycled plastic turtle necklace. (seamonkeyproject.com may not be available any longer)
- Follow on social media:
- Share this post on your social media accounts!
