Andreas Noe, aka The Trash Traveler, originally comes from Lake Constance and studied molecular biology. After a surfing trip to Portugal, however, he couldn’t get one thing out of his head: the amount of plastic bottles, cigarette butts and other rubbish lining the beaches and landscapes there and damaging the health of living creatures and our planet. That’s why The Trash Traveler quit his job and has been travelling through Portugal ever since to draw attention to the problem of plastic pollution with his rubbish collection campaigns.
In the meantime, large-scale projects have emerged: together with other people and organisations, The Trash Traveler has been collecting waste on various “hikes” since 2019 and creating works of art from it at the end. The aim is to make more people aware of the pollution of our oceans. He is currently on a month-long “Ocean Hike”, a hike around Madeira. Not only is he collecting rubbish, he is also meeting with scientists, NGOs and schools to learn more about the issue and raise awareness.
After all, the pollution of beaches and seas is not just a serious problem in Portugal – up to 12.7 million tonnes of plastic end up in the oceans worldwide every year. Microplastics are a particular cause for concern, as plastic breaks down into smaller and smaller particles over time. Complete degradation can take thousands of years. If plastic pollution continues to increase at such an uncontrolled rate, the amount of microplastics could increase 50-fold by the next century. (Source: WWF, https://www.wwf.de/themen-projekte/plastik/plastikmuell-im-meer)
With its projects, The Trash Traveler pursues one goal above all: to raise awareness. Collecting plastic waste on beaches is only a small step towards solving the problem. Without political measures, such as the introduction of deposit systems or a ban on single-use plastic, collecting rubbish remains a drop in the ocean. We need preventative solutions – because unfortunately microplastics can no longer be collected …
Together with The Trash Traveler, we want to reach even more people as a start-up and sensitise them to the issue of marine pollution. Our aim is to increase the pressure to change the way we use resources. In particular, the careless use of single-use plastic must be reduced; instead, we want to promote reusable products and establish them more strongly on the market.
Only through awareness and joint action can we initiate this urgently needed change!