Dear members, dear friends of the environment!
In the last few weeks things have begun moving faster again, and some of our projects are picking up speed after the Corona break. While some projects still have to wait due to local conditions, others have already been implemented successfully in Cambodia, Brazil and especially in the Baltic Sea. In July and August we were on a ghost net hunt off Kiel, on Fehmarn and in Gamble Albo in Denmark and were able to recover about 2.5 cubic meters of net material and over 50 kilos of fishing gear.
A TV recommendation: On Saturday, 19.09.20 at 17.35 on ZDF, the next episode of plan b will be broadcast, a news format which, for the upcoming ICC (International Coastal Cleanup), will deal with the topic of the sea and the environment, as well as the ship fleet and the international work of OEOO.
Since our projects continue to be financed exclusively by donations and sponsorship, we are especially pleased and grateful to receive your financial support during Corona times. Every Euro counts!
Avoid plastic wherever possible!
Your
Günther Bonin
and the team of One Earth - One Ocean e.V.
P.S.: Please use AmazonSmile instead of the regular Amazon for your online purchases and choose One Earth - One Ocean as your favored social organization. AmazonSmile is an easy way to donate 0.5% of the purchase value to OEOO with each purchase - at no additional cost to you. You can find information about AmazonSmile here. Thanks a lot!
|
|
oeoo starts its second cleaning project in Cambodia
In just our third year we are now active with waste collection in Battambang, Cambodia, with the project recently being officially recognized by the Cambodian government. The cleaning of the Sangkae River with a team of now five permanent and fairly paid waste collectors of the landfill site continues despite the crisis, and remains a continued success.
In Battambang, we are already able to cover the entire cycle from collecting and sorting of the plastic waste to recycling. In the medium term, the plastic waste collected and sorted at the landfill will be recycled into new garbage bags for the region. We are proudly supported by the German group SUND, our technical partner in the region, which is active in the field of plastic production and sales.
In mid-July, we began a second cleaning project in Siem Reap on Tonle Sap Lake, about 70 kilometers away. There, the ultra-modern SeeHamster 5, a catamaran built entirely of aluminum with robust hulls and a lowerable ramp will be used alongside a five-member permanent team to regularly clean (plastic) waste from water surfaces and shore sections. The collected garbage is taken to a landfill site in Siem Reap where it is also sorted. In addition to the cleanups, the focus of this project is also on education and training, and is financed by SUND and other donors.
Furthermore, we planning to start a pilot project in the capital Phnom Penh in the near future.
|
|
|
The household appliance manufacturer AEG-Elektrolux is cooperating with One Earth - One Ocean e.V. to launch a joint waste collection campaign under the slogan "MEER SAUBER MACHEN" (CLEAN THE SEA) on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of AEG vacuum cleaners. With the purchase of every AEG eco vacuum cleaner by the end of 2020, AEG and oeoo promise to fish a kilogram of waste out of the sea.
"We are pleased to be able to cooperate with a company as ambitious in terms of sustainability as AEG Electrolux Haustechnik GmbH in order to jointly remove more plastic waste from the oceans worldwide," explains Günther Bonin, founder of One Earth - One Ocean e.V. "With this joint campaign we want to show what relatively simple methods can be used to effectively combat plastic waste in the sea. There are no more excuses! |
|
Our activities
April & May 2020:
- In Battambang the cleanups were reduced due to corona, but the team is busy sorting and pressing the plastic waste for SUND Holding.
- For our cleaning project in Bekasi/Java, which is implemented together with the Schwarz Group (Lidl, Kaufland), three SeeHamsters are currently planned, with one already on site. As soon as flights are possible again, we will install a solar charging station for the battery-powered outboard motors there.
- The Röchling Foundation publishes a new Polyproblem Report, which explicitly deals with the plastic flood in Asia.
- Our subsidiary oeoo Brazil in Rio is officially recognized as an NGO.
- The SeeKuh I comes out of its winter camp and is provided with a new platform (especially for the ghost net actions) and a fresh coat of paint.
- The oeoo website is now also available in Russian.
- The sea elephant is nominated by the German Sustainability Award Foundation "for special contributions to the transformation to a sustainable society" for the German Sustainability Award 2021.
June 2020:
- On June 1, a Cleanup takes place for the first time again in Kiel Mönkeberg in compliance with safety and distance regulations and with a limited number of participants.
- At the end of June, the second SeeHamster in individual parts arrives in Cambodia from Germany and is transported to Siem Reap, where it is assembled. It will be used there for our second project at Tonle Seap Lake.
- In Battambang oeoo is financing the installation of false ceilings in the buildings of the SAB (the social waste center Battambang), i.e. the school and kindergarten on the waste dump. This way less dust, stench and heat can enter the rooms.
- In the "LiveForLifeTV" charity project, young streaming stars collected donations of 39,000 euros for oeoo on the Twitch platform. We would like to thank all those who generously donated. Further information can be found here.
July 2020:
- Together with our cooperation partners of the SDA Scientific Diving Association, a series of salvage actions of ghost nets will start on the 12th of July, as well as in the Eckernförder Bucht off Kiel in the following days.
- An article about the ghost net salvages of SDA/oeoo will be published in KIELerleben and two TV reports in NDR and SAT.1
- The Kieler Nachrichten also provides detailed coverage of the operations of oeoo.
- On the 12th of July, another oeoo sea hero cleanup will take place at the Skagerak shore in Kiel.
August 2020:
- Cooperation with Electrolux/AEG
- 31.7. - 6.8. ghost net action with divers from SDA, the diving club Atlantis and the University of Kiel in front of Fehmarn, who report for Lübecker Nachrichten
- 14 - 24.8. ghost net recovery off Gamble Albo, Denmark
- A Cleanup in cooperation with the organization oclean took place on the 21st of August in Hamburg. Furthermore cleanups were organized on the 29th of August in Kiel Schilksee and the 12th of September in Kiel at the Skagerrakufer. Interested parties are welcome to register in our Facebook Group Meereshelden.
- In Siem Reap in Cambodia, a whole week of educational work and information for the local population on plastic waste avoidance and environmental protection took place.
|
|
|
|
|
Salvage actions of ghost nets in the Baltic Sea
Ghost nets are lost or abandoned fishing nets and other fishing gear. They continue to do their job and thus become a danger for many marine life. The abandoned nets and fishing lines are often made of nylon, polyester or polyethylene, which gradually decomposes into microplastics. It is estimated that ghost nets account for about 10 percent of the world's plastic waste in the oceans.
Together with our cooperation partners, the Scientific Diving Association e.V. Kiel (SDA), oeoo therefore started a project in spring 2019 to locate and recover such ghost nets from the Baltic Sea. In July and August 2020, more extensive salvage trips took place, which were also accompanied by the local press.
We have been proudly supported by the company Oceanwell, which has been supporting us as a sponsor since the start of 2020. A detailed report can be read on their blog.
|
|
|
|
After our operation off Kiel in July, together with our partners from SDA and other diver friends we went on two longer trips to Fehmarn and Gamble Albo in Denmark in August, where we were able to salvage extensive amounts of material from ghost nets, fishing lines, silicone baits as well as hooks and lead from the Baltic Sea. Off Fehmarn we had 6-18 divers in action. The ten-day trip to Denmark was the first foreign assignment on our own keel and the longest SeeKuh assignment.
We were checked several times by the Danish police and the Homeland Security while working near the large construction site for the Norway-Poland pipeline, where a frigate crossed the area in the Belt and jets flew overhead several times. All in all, there appeared to be great interest in our prescence, resulting in broad media coverage in both Germany and Denmark regarding our operations.
Many thanks to all helpers and supporters!
|
|
|
|
SAT.1 Nord made a TV report about this.
|
|
|
|
The Microplastic Pollution Map
Not everyone will have had an opportunity to look at the Microplastic Pollution Map on our website. Since 2013, this interactive world map has been depicting the water samples collected in the various marine regions by oeoo supporters such as the OPDR liner shipping company from Hamburg, and analyzed for their chemical composition in our own laboratory using an FTIR spectrometer.
With this database on microplastic pollution levels in the world's oceans, oeoo aims to contribute to research into the medium to long-term effects of microplastics on humans and animals.
Using the professional help of the company PHAT Consulting from Hamburg, we were able to turn the database into an interactive map. The team created a visual representation of the data together with the microbiologist Dr. Rüdiger Stöhr from oeoo, who is in charge of the research project.
The interactive Microplastic Pollution Map contains different windows. The sea map shows the sample positions and can be sorted according to different criteria: by region, by more detailed sampling locations, by years of sampling or even by plastic types. The selection is made by clicking on the sub-segments or by ticking the sampling years.
Recently the Microplastic Pollution Map was revised and updated.
|
|
|
oeoo Brazil
Our Brazilian branch oeoo Brazil in Rio is now officially recognized as a local NGO, which makes the work there much easier. But as is well known, the corona situation in Brazil is particularly serious, so actions have had to be put on hold for the most part. Nevertheless, the first cleaning actions of the Guanabara Bay are now starting together with local fishermen.
|
|
|
A first test took place in August. Together with Thiago Veludo, fisherman and environmental activist of the Z-10 fishing colony, oeoo was on its way in Guanabara Bay to Ilha Seca, a small island where oeoo members collected garbage. Since the beginning of September, more cleanups have been taking place at three locations in the bay. The recovered garbage (now more than half a ton) is then sorted and evaluated.
|
|
|
oeoo calls to joint beach cleaning actions on 19.09.2020 in Kiel
For 35 years, the International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) has been held every third Saturday in September. This year oeoo has taken on the responsibility for the management for Kiel. By taking on and continuing the organization of the ICC, we at oeoo want to further sharpen the public focus on the topic of marine litter and ensure that pollution is reduced across many kilometers of coastline.
Anyone can join in! Even individuals or small groups can go out on their own and document their collected garbage in the App Clean Swell developed by the Ocean Conservancy. Larger groups can register with oeoo for participation and will be assigned a beach section and the necessary equipment. If you would like to register groups for the ICC or have any questions, please contact Melissa Behrendt (melissa.behrendt@oneearth-oneocean.de).
On Saturday, 19.09.20 there will also be an oeoo-own cleanup in Kitzeberg (Heikendorf community) from 11am until 2pm at the latest. Meeting place: Schönkamp 1, 24226 Heikendorf. Info here
Alternatively, interested parties can also join the Cleanup of the NABU Group Kiel in Stein/ Laboe. The beach cleaning will take place from 10am to 2pm. Further information about the event can be found here.
|
|
|
|
|
