In this week’s Community Spotlight, we chat with Elvis Bottega, from Switzerland who uses his love of diving to create action in the corporate and underwater world.

Tell us about your passion for ocean conservation.

Hi, my name is Elvis Bottega. I am an engineer at Cisco and in my free time, I'm a PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer.

A few years ago a colleague of mine introduced me to scuba diving. I didn’t realize that it would influence my life so much. In fact, I fell completely in love and now I can’t stop. My passion for diving makes me dive three or more times per week, during the weekends and in the evenings after work, often doing multiple dives on the same day, year-round. 

As my interest for scuba diving grew more and more, I wanted to pair it with my willingness to teach and educate others, so I trained to become an instructor. I spent most of my holidays from my job at Cisco working part time in several dive centers around the world (Italy, Spain, Scotland and Switzerland) and taught many scuba diving newbies as well as to experienced divers. 

Why and when did you get involved with Project AWARE?

Project AWARE has always been an important part of my diving, and for those, I dive with. My buddies and I apply the Project AWARE principles on all dives: not only passively, by performing a good buoyancy, but also actively by collecting trash when we find it.

I have organized cleanup dives with my colleagues at work, thanks to an initiative called Time2Give which Cisco offers its employees. During the year we can take up to five days off and use them for giving back activities that we are passionate about.  My story about Dive Against Debris was also shared with employees and on social media!

What are some issues that are affecting your local dive site or favorite underwater areas?

I have mostly dived in lakes. The reoccuring issue is that people throw all kinds of debris in the water, as if it were a trash bin. This is extremely sad and makes no sense, especially because those same individuals who pollute the water with such debris are also going to indirectly drink that water and have their friends and family members consuming it too: in fact polluted water evaporates, becomes steam, gets transported by winds and falls again on our heads, on the fields we cultivate. So, in short, we eat and drink the rubbish we throw in the seas, lakes and rivers!

Tell us about your work!

I always encourage students to dive conscientiously, with respect towards marine life and I actively support Dive Against Debris, encouraging divers to remove marine debris from underwater during every dive. I also organize cleaning days, while leveraging the Time2Give initiative promoted by Cisco.

What has been the highlight of your Project AWARE experience?

I believe that the main factor is education: the effects of conscientious divers actively pursuing Project AWARE principles are way higher and more consistent than single events happening a few times per year. Dive Against Debris, as well as any other programs and campaigns, are fantastic opportunities to spread awareness. But they must be accompanied with educational activities in diving centers, schools and with families. When this happens, the multiplying factor of millions of divers around the world will make the difference.

What is the most important thing you tell others about Project AWARE?

Make it part of your standard dive, as much as the tank or the regulator.