Project AWARE is on a drive to hit 2 million recorded items of trash for the “Dive Against Debris” campaign.
Dive Against Debris is the one and only data collection for underwater marine trash.
Deeperblue.com spoke to Project AWARE about the value of logging the treasures you tidy up from the seabed.
Project AWARE is calling on PADI Pros and beyond to download the new Dive Against Debris app that has replaced the old online form and start logging that trash. You’ll need to be on scuba and have collected the trash from the ocean floor but it does not matter if you are in the sea, a lake or a puddle — it all counts.
Even if you don’t find any trash, it’s still important to log these findings too. The data is collected and can be seen on the website and the evidence is used when findings are presented at the policy level to initiate change.
Dive Against Debris was initiated in 2011 and by the beginning of 2018, a million pieces of debris had been removed from the water and the findings were recorded on the database.
Project AWARE have pledged as part of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals that by the end of 2020, volunteers and supporters will have recorded a further million items of debris.
Download the Dive Against Debris app from either the Apple or Android app stores and join the clean up.
See the data submissions here: https://www.projectaware.org/diveagainstdebrismap.
— Victoria Brown