Project Kaisei

Our water issue this months features a project I came across over 1 year ago, when Doug Woodring sent me an e-mail, with lots of info about his project. A few weeks later Doug came to Bali and we meet for two hours were I found out more about Project Kaisei and I promised him I will bring something about it one day. Project Kaisei is researching the oceans for pollution from waste, such as plastic bottles, plastic nets and much much more, as well as raising awareness for this tremendouse problem. The oceans are a world issue, a future issue for our children and we all must soon move to save them or it will be too late... Here more from Doug about Project Kaisei: "Why We Are Here: Our goal is to bring awareness about the ocean and its potential for recovery to individuals, communities, industry and government globally. Project Kaisei was inspired by the fact that while many people love the sea, it is sick and dying because nobody is directly responsible for taking charge of global oceanic stewardship. Thirty percent of this planet is land, while seventy percent of this planet is ocean. Our world ocean is truly one system of water. Our countries on land are represented by 193 flags – while our waters – are lost in their vastness. The flag of Project Kaisei is the flag of the ocean and we will be working to find solutions for restoring the health of our oceans. With your help we hope to see the flag of Project Kaisei, the flag of the Ocean, flying at the United Nations, with all the other flags so that those making decisions on land are always reminded that they are also responsible to the birthplace of life on this planet, our oceanic ecosystem that connects and gives life to us all. Project Kaisei addresses the issue of marine debris, both at sea, in focal points like the North Pacific Gyre, but also on land. We are researching and bringing awareness to solutions that include new materials, recycling innovations, consumer awareness and policy change. Project Kaisei is helping to heal the seas by bringing together experts to collaborate on this critical global issue. As we connect people, institutions and technologies, we are able to inspire awareness, understanding and change. What We Observed: Our first expedition confirmed that the problem of plastic in our ocean is pervasive. Across the 3,500 miles of the North Pacific Gyre, our regular surface sampling found plastic in every single sample net. Most of this material has been degraded and made brittle by exposure to the sun, and then broken up into tiny pieces by wind, currents and waves. The plastic “photo degrades” as a material, but it does not biodegrade – every piece of plastic that has ever been made, and that has ended up in the ocean, is still with us. Humanity has unknowingly impacted the largest and most remote ecosystem on our planet. We have produced a new material in such scale and volume that our broad use of plastic polymers, approximately 50% of which are simply used as disposable products – have through our neglect and failure to understand or interpret the results of our actions, resulted in tremendous environmental degradation. Here lies the issue – once you are done unpacking, unwrapping, eating and drinking from plastic products, they are here to stay with us for hundreds of years or more. We must ask ourselves, is this truly necessary? What is the true price of this “convenience”? Is it necessary? Is it right to do so? Along with the hundreds of surface samples we gathered, we removed large pieces of plastic, floating drift (ghost) nets, and other man-made debris that we found in the gyre. To test new ideas and techniques, we have shipped some of the ghost nets to Korea to show that these recovered materials can have economic value. The ghost nets will be re-processed and re-woven into clothing." Learn more about the gyre and the work of Project Kaisei on their website www.projectkaisei.org or www.youtube.com/user/ProjectKaisei