The Ocean Hike – Madeira | The Trash Traveler

May – June 2024

After hiking 1152 km along the continental coast in 2020, The Trash Traveler hiked 280 km along the entire coast of Madeira in 17 days and Porto Santo in 4 days (18000 elevation meters) to meet 561 people from the general public, NGOs, schools, scientists and other institutions while collecting 950 kg litter and ocean plastic, raising awareness about ocean issues (find the list of partners below).

Upcoming: The mission of hiking the entire coast of Portugal will continue in 2025 to cover Azores and some protected islands (accompanying scientific expeditions) that are missing to achieve the goal. A further project will be developed soon to strengthen the impact and connections made in Madeira. A short documentary movie will be developed – release 2025.

SIGN THE PETITION (CLICK HERE) for a Moratorium on Deep Sea Mining in Madeiran Waters.
DETAILED INFOS BELOW

FOOTAGE, TV REPORTS AND FINAL REPORT HERE

Madeira Local Partners:
Ocean Devotion (NGO), VMT Madeira (Whale Watching & Education), Direção Regional do Ambiente e Ação Climática (DRAAC), GREENER ACT, MARE Madeira (Research Institute), Loja do Profeta (Upcycling / Beach Clean Project), Lobosonda (Whale Watching & Education), Dive with Jo (Dive Instructor), Neptuno (NGO), DRMAR (Regional Government Department) – Direção Regional de Pescas e Mar, Arte Association (MArte) (Art Association), Madeira Friends (Madeira Community), Calheta Diving Center, @acifccim – atlic, Summer Opening Festival, Digital Nomads Madeira (Community), Menos é Mais EcoFest (Eco Project), Policia da Madeira, Madeira.Outdoors, LiveInMadeira, Maos na Terra, cristianoluis.photo (Photographer), Pema Travels, CR7 Pestana, Remote East Coasters Machico, Digital Nomads Madeira, Museu da Baleia

International Project Partners:
Ocean Care (NGO – sign their petition to stop unnecessary single use plastics in Switzerland),
Sciaena (NGO) Jack Wolfskin (Outdoor Equipment), Associação Novo Mundo (NGO in which The Trash Traveler is part of)

Background: The Plastic Hike – 1152 km Continental Portugal

Since 2019, the molecular biologist Andreas Noe aka The Trash Traveler (IG, FB, TIK TOK, Website) is raising environmental awareness with fun and creativity. Mostly collecting plastics, creating art pieces and trash awareness songs on his Ukulele – inspiring in a positive and engaging manner.

Andreas fell in love with Portugal and it became his new home: “I also could do all these projects in my home country Germany, however, Portugal is just too beautiful to leave. I am NOT doing this project in Portugal because it is worse than anywhere else in this world. Ocean issues are global – we can contribute to ocean conservation from anywhere in the world.”

In 2020, The Trash Traveler hiked 1152 km along the entire coast of continental Portugal within 58 days to alert about the excessive amount of single use plastics we use and the need for a circular economy to reuse and refill what we already own. He walked the entire distance with only 1 refillable water bottle to show it is possible to not buy any single use items. 600 people and 80 Portuguese environmental initiatives joined to remove 1.6 tons of plastic and more importantly to raise awareness about ocean plastics. Find here the documentary movie (contact us if you’d like to screen / or place it on TV).

Continuation – The Ocean Hike: Madeira / Porto Santo – May / June 2024

The Trash Traveler hiked 280 km along the entire coast of Madeira in 17 days and Porto Santo in 4 days (18000 elevation meters) to meet 561 people from the general public, NGOs, schools, scientists and other institutions while collecting 950 kg litter and ocean plastic, raising awareness about ocean issues (find the list of partners below).

The mission of hiking the entire coast of Portugal will continue in 2025 to cover Azores and some protected islands (accompanying scientific expeditions) that are missing to achieve the goal. A further project will be developed to strengthen the impact and connections made in Madeira.

Several issues were discussed through The Ocean Hike project:

Littering:

Toilet Paper / Wet Wipes:

Some hiking trails were full of toilet paper and wet wipes (containing plastic and hence, are not biodegradable – source). More education, alerting signs are needed for hikers to treat nature respectfully, as well as more bins and public toilets would help solve these issues.

Cigarette Butts:

Cigarette butts are made of plastic and contain over 7000 toxic chemicals including known human carcinogens (Check out the Cigarette Butts Fact Sheet by OceanCare X The Trash Traveler). We unfortunately find cigarette butts anywhere we go. Further awareness campaigns and signs are needed as well as stricter laws for extended producers responsibility. Around 40.000 cigarette butts were collected throughout The Ocean Hike.

Single Use Plastics (various origins):

Plenty of single use plastic bottles, cups and bags were found around Madeira. Single-use plastics are designed for one-time use and significantly contribute to pollution due to their short lifecycle and persistent environmental impact. Annually, about 367 million tonnes of plastic are produced globally, with around 50% used for single-use items, resulting in substantial waste. These plastics can persist for hundreds of years, harming wildlife and ecosystems.

To combat this, we need to invest in a circular economy. This approach reduces waste and reuses materials by designing products that are reusable, recyclable, or biodegradable, extending the lifecycle of materials. Shifting to a circular economy can reduce waste management costs, create new business opportunities, decrease pollution, conserve resources, and mitigate climate change impacts.

With this project, the petition of OceanCare was supported to adjust laws on unnecessary single use plastics (link).

Ocean Plastic Pollution:

Ocean plastic pollution refers to the accumulation of plastic debris in the ocean, posing significant threats to marine life, ecosystems, and human health. Around 80% of ocean plastics originate from land activities such as littering, poor waste management, and industrial processes. About 20% come from maritime activities, including fishing gear, shipping debris, and offshore platforms.

Ocean currents play a crucial role in transporting plastic debris across the globe, affecting even remote areas. The Madeira Archipelago, located in the North Atlantic Ocean, is strategically positioned in relation to several major ocean currents, making it a significant case study for ocean plastic pollution. Madeira lies within the influence of the North Atlantic Gyre and Canary Current, which contributes to the accumulation and distribution of plastic debris from various regions.

Macroplastics: Larger items like bottles and bags.

Clean-up efforts on Madeira’s beaches have revealed plastic items produced and used in Spain, USA and Canada. These findings illustrate the extensive reach of ocean currents in transporting plastic waste from distant countries to remote locations like Madeira. The presence of plastics from these nations highlights the global nature of marine plastic pollution and the interconnectedness of oceanic systems.

Microplastics: Particles less than 5mm, often from the breakdown of larger plastics or released as plastic pellets (nurdles – the raw material to produce any type of plastic)

Microplastics were found on all sandy beaches in Madeira and Porto Santo. Most beaches in Madeira are rocky, which makes it difficult to spot microplastics as they might be hidden underneath stones. There are two categories of microplastics: Primary microplastics such as plastic pellets (or nurdles), are small lentil-sized pieces of plastic that are the building blocks for most plastic products and increasingly found on beaches. This issue gained a lot of media attention last year with a major spill of plastic pellets in Galicia (Guardian). Some of the found plastic pellets were analyzed in the laboratory of DRMAR with an FTIR machine to understand the material composition (find the results in the footage folder). They look similar but are made of completely different compositions, which highlights the complexity of recycling.

Secondary microplastics result from the breakdown and fragmentation of larger plastic items.

Finding all types of microplastics on all sandy beaches highlights the importance of adjusting laws and regulations for the usage of plastics.

Invisible Issues:

Marine litter “Trash” is the most visible and obvious issue for the general public. Therefore, The Trash Traveler was using simple acts such as trash collection as a starting point for discussing ocean conservation topics. In his awareness activities, 2 dimensional trash art pieces were created and issues and solutions were discussed (see the final footage). From individual level of showcasing plastic alternatives and Zero Waste approaches, to discussing systemic changes for ocean conservation such as marine protected areas and protecting the deep sea.

The Petition: Moratorium on Deep Sea Mining

One main objective of The Ocean Hike was to support the local and national NGOs work for a moratorium on deep sea mining. The regional government of Madeira has the opportunity to be an example in the international community by taking a stance in protecting their waters by passing a resolution for a moratorium on deep sea mining.

The national parliament has already passed a resolution asking for a moratorium in 2023, however, since the government has changed, this process was interrupted and needs to be reinforced. Since the islands are the communities most influenced by decisions on the sea, and given that the Azores have already taken a position pro moratorium, Madeira’s positioning would have a great impact.

Background:

As world economies seek to reduce carbon emissions, they have pursued new forms of clean energy development leading to an increased need for minerals and interest in resources in the deep sea. The consequences of deep-sea mining are not understood and evidence shows that it is not needed, wanted or worth the risk. Instead, investments in a combination of new technology, a circular economy and recycling would cut demand for minerals.

Signatures were collected throughout the project for the following petition: https://peticaopublica.com/?pi=OceanDevotionMadeira (more infos via link)