We arranged a screening of the movie “Trashed” this week. The film, narrated by Jeremy Irons, is about the problem of waste around the world. The screening was hosted by the Australian High Commission here in Port Vila and guests included, amongst others, the acting Prime Minister, the Minister for Education, the Minister for Climate Change, Mayor of Port Vila, and representatives from the New Zealand High Commission, aid agencies and NGOs. We gave a short presentation before the movie to demonstrate the relevance of the issues raised in the film to Vanuatu. During that presentation we used the figures and photos from Big Blue’s Dive Against Debris to show the audience what happens to rubbish that is littered on the streets. Once it enters the water it can’t be seen from above the surface and people don’t know it is still there, damaging our marine ecosystems. Photos of the sea floor strewn with rubbish stimulated collective muttering in the audience. The visual impact was obvious. Hopefully these images and the data from our clean up dives, as well as the subject matter in the film, will be remembered by the decision makers here in Vanuatu when it come to forming policies in this area. We will continue to organize Dives Against Debris and will continue to publicise the data from the rubbish we collect so the issue of ocean trash won’t get lost, beyond view under the surface again. Our next Dive Against Debris will coincide with Clean Up The World Day in September. 

If you are interested in the movie here’s a link to the website http://www.trashedfilm.com