Turning marine litter into costumery
Visakhapatnam-based organization Sea-Ta has been making fashion bracelets, handbags, clutches and other accessories from discarded fishing nets and ghost gears retrieved from deep ocean.
Serving two purposes at a time, the firm Sea-Ta is associated with the marine litter upcycling project by Green Waves Environmental Solutions, it has been turning hazardous plastic marine trash and mangled waste into fancy wearables like Handbags, clutches, and so on.
Discarded, lost or, Generally referred to as ghost gear, abandoned fishing gear are chiefly the cause of marine plastic pollution and are dreadful to whales, dolphins, turtles and other marine creatures.The organisation was launched in 2019 with an objective to address the issue of ghost nets and their impact with innovative solutions.
Working with the artisans, the initiative intends to provide alternative livelihood options for the coastal fishing community.Discarded fish nets are collected at certain mending site then treated to make it suitable for upcycling with the help from fishing commumity.The idea is being implemented in close collaboration with the fisherfolk communities, through awareness programmes, surveys and workshops.
As per Greenpeace eport, 6.40 lakh tonnes of ghost gear enter the ocean every year, making up 10 % of the plastic waste in the ocean. It also represents a much higher proportion of plastics found floating on the ocean surface.
Green Waves’ marine litter upcycling project is being implemented along with its conservation wing, Green Paw. As of now five products have been launched under the project and seven prototypes are in pipeline.
According to Sai Brahmani, Project Head from Green Waves, the products are made out of upcycled litter taken from the sea, we named the each with a prefix related to marine organisms. For instance, the Moray Multibag, Coral Clutch and Puffin Pen Stands.
Green Waves is also conducting awareness and upcycling programmes at various educational institutions in Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam and regular coastal cleanup activities at various places to collect and segregate marine litter.
