Addressing the marine debris issue is no walk in the park. It’s a complex problem that is truly global by nature and requires collaboration among stakeholders at local, national and international levels. It can be daunting to face, but we really do have the power to drive change!

Earlier this month I was lucky enough to be out in the field visiting some of our top 100% AWARE Partners on Koh Tao, Thailand. It was a whistle-stop tour which ran like clockwork thanks to the support from PADI Regional Manager Gio and Regional Training Consultant, Neil.

Zipping from store to store on the back of a moped, it was great to catch up with Sairee Cottage Diving, Ban's Diving Resort, Davy Jones Locker, Scuba Shack Koh Tao, Master Divers, Sunshine Divers, Coral Grand Divers, Crystal Dive and Eco Koh Tao and talk about – you guessed it – trash and the valued contribution they are each making through Dive Against Debris! The visit came just after Koh Tao’s huge Earth Day event where the whole community got together to help clean up the island. Dive Against Debris surveys were conducted all around the island, beaches were cleaned and money was raised for a true conservation hero, Chad Scott. It was a truly amazing feat.

Koh Tao is a victim of its own success. A popular tourist destination, it receives thousands of visitors every year, creating numerous issues associated with waste management. In a small attempt to reduce my personal footprint on the island, I brought back the rubbish I generated whilst there. Although it wasn’t a lot, I believe it’s important to take responsibility for your own actions and, for an island that struggles with waste management, it made sense to me to bring my rubbish home with me so I could recycle it. Similarly, local dive stores are taking leadership by introducing their own actions to help reduce their waste. From banning plastic straws to providing water refill stations, much has changed for the better in the two years since I last visited. It’s impressive to see an island come together to help sustain its future.

After visiting Koh Tao, I travelled to Pattaya where Project AWARE had been invited as a special guest to AirAsia’s #Green24 Campaign. To date, the AirAsia and AirAsia X groups have held over 40 activities aimed to conserve energy, raise awareness about the effects of climate change and create awareness of sustainable practices among local communities.

“The #GREEN24 movement was launched as a regional effort to raise the profile of climate change effects in this part of the world. We have been actively conducting programs which are designed to educate the public about the effects of climate change. This beach and reef clean-up is another measure we are taking to reach out to the various communities we serve in this region, as a call for everyone to work together to keeping our environment sustainable for the future,” said Aireen Omar, Chief Executive Officer of AirAsia Berhad.

AirAsia’s #Green24 Event in Pattaya was focused around marine debris – coordinating a mass beach clean as well as getting their own AirAsia staff, those that were certified scuba divers, to conduct a Dive Against Debris survey. Whilst on the boat to Koh Sak, I was able to spend some time talking with the new wave of empowered scuba divers about Dive Against Debris and the importance of the program in yielding quantitative evidence about marine debris found on the seafloor – highlighting an issue that has been previously disregarded as out of site, out of mind.

I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of debris present on the seafloor off Koh Sak Island. That said, we still removed 12kgs from the seafloor – you can check out the survey here.

I’d like to extend huge thanks to our 100% AWARE Partners for their ongoing support and commitment to protecting the ocean planet and thank you to AirAsia for inviting me along to join their #Green24 Campaign and providing the travel.