A tidal wave of hope #PlanetOrPlastic

Untitled Part 1

In my work to stop ocean plastic pollution, I often had to face with an entrenched resistance to change. Over the years, my mission has taken me to remote villages in different parts of Asia where waste was discharged directly into the environment more than anywhere else in the world. I learned that not many people knew that plastic trash would be around for many centuries, and could kill millions of marine species every year. They also did not believe when I told them that one day, there could be more plastic than sand on their beaches.

It was in Nha Trang – a city on the South Central coast of Vietnam – that I first met Mai, a young girl from the nearby fishing village who volunteered in the local beach cleanup. Little did I know at first that she would become the inspiration for my work. Mai convinced me that young people in her community were eager to take on the challenge of plastic in the ocean, but they lacked the capacity to do it themselves. Coming from a subsistence fishing community, these young people like Mai have even stopped going to school to help out their families. Their disadvantaged background, if anything, only reinforced a strong commitment to preserve the natural resources of their hometown. In their eyes, nature was a gift that should be available to everyone equally, no matter whether one was rich or poor.

By spending time with them, I began to see that it was not only about how many tons of trash were being dumped into rivers and oceans every year but mainly about the people. I would not be able to convince people to keep plastic utensils and packaging waste out of the water unless I understood what motivated them to take the desired behavior. I quickly understood that I would have to build relationships with the local communities and slowly gain their trust. Day after day, more and more people came to join our "movement." Through more involvement, the locals gained a sense of empowerment and took pride in the fact that they were saving the ocean, one tiny wave at a time. Slowly, the young people began to take charge of the behavior change initiative by running the education and designing local awareness programs themselves.

The day came when my team and I had to move on to other towns to continue our campaign. To say goodbye, Mai and her friends invited us to a sunset picnic on the beach. That evening, we all looked in the same direction and shared the same dream. It was the sunset that would forever stay with me. Mai sang a song for me in her native Vietnamese, which was translated into these words: "my beautiful homeland of white sands, blue sky and endless blue ocean, with the howling waves deep into the night...." Those words gave me hope, as they told me that the tide has turned.