It’s Plastic Free July! Millions of people around the globe are taking on the challenge to go plastic-free for a month, or at least try to reduce everyday single-use plastic. While many of us are focusing on taking action on land, a dedicated group of debris activists, 431 to be precise, are joining in the challenge with an underwater twist. They are celebrating, with us, their ongoing actions to keep their local dive sites debris-free through Project AWARE's Adopt a Dive Site™ initiative, not only during Plastic Free July* but year-round.

How?

They carry out monthly Dive Against Debris® surveys, reporting types and quantities of marine debris found underwater each month from the same location - and their actions are making a difference. Dive volunteers involved in Dive Against Debris are providing data, including information about debris-free sites, which is helping convince decision-makers to adopt more stringent policies on plastics.

Dive Against Debris provides a standardized survey protocol that can be implemented locally to monitor sites, providing a baseline against which to measure trends and potentially the effects of local policies such as container deposit schemes and plastic bag bans. This is why Adopt A Dive Site™ is so important - it provides repetitive data for the same location that builds this baseline locally providing the opportunity to identify the effects of local policy as well as potential gaps where waste management and prevention policies need to be prioritized.

Adopt a Dive Site™ was launched in 2016 and the response from our community of ocean adventurers was more than we could have ever expected. There are currently almost 500 Adopt a Dive Site locations around the world and the number is growing every week. In 2018, 45% of the Dive Against Debris surveys submitted were from Adopt a Dive Site owners. 

The community leaders who have adopted dive sites are providing ongoing, local protection and monitoring of their underwater playgrounds - taking action locally for global impact. 

It’s a really simple way to make a difference underwater. Divers are passionate ocean advocates and already pick up rubbish on their dives. Adopt a Dive Site gives them a way to be part of the solution” Peta Day, Project AWARE Community Coordinator 

Keeping it Debris-Free this Plastic Free July and Year-Round

Advancing our knowledge and understanding regarding marine debris, seafloor debris in particular, is integral to informing policy and developing solutions to prevent debris at the source. The Dive Against Debris data set provides an invaluable resource regarding quantifiable data on seafloor marine debris as well as debris-free sites - knowing where rubbish is not present is as important as knowing where it is, especially in identifying marine debris hotspots. There is no other data set that captures information on seafloor debris at this scale both temporally and spatially. 

Almost 70 percent of all items reported through Dive Against Debris are plastics. Among the common plastic items found and reported by divers are fishing lines, fragments, bottles, and food wrappers.

This Plastic Free July, join the movement for a clean ocean. Adopt a Dive Site and make Every Dive a Survey Dive or donate to support our work towards finding long-term solutions to tackle the problem at the source.

And remember, even if you don’t see debris on a dive (lucky you) report it through the Dive Against Debris App or online reporting form. Finding no debris on a dive is important data to submit as it can help identify when new problems arise. Simply select the “Our Survey Site Was Free of Debris” option when you submit your data. Debris-free sites are also visualized on the Dive Against Debris Map. To date, 621 surveys submitted to the Dive Against Debris global dataset were reported as debris-free dive sites.

Happy Debris Free July!

Thank you for taking action for a plastic-free ocean this July and year-round!

*Plastic Free July is a worldwide campaign led by the independent, not-for-profit organization the Plastic Free Foundation, which aims to reduce single-use plastic waste throughout our everyday lives by providing easy-to-follow resources and ideas.

Photo courtesy of Blue Bay Dive