IMAGE & QUOTE:

Andrew Lim (Singapore)

ASIA DIVE EXPO (ADEX 2017,

2018, 2019 SPEAKER)

“I’ve found it difficult to convey the message of plastic to people who are relatively detached from environmental issues.

So I thought this photo might help to connect what ‘normal’ people do with its impact on marine life.

In this day and age, everyone is striving to be healthier. We have our gym memberships,

we drink our shakes, and most importantly, we eat clean.

But what if, one day, you discover that the local salad bar you frequently visit has caused a death because it was found that the vegetables they used were made of plastic?

How upset would you be and what would you do?

Surely, the salad bar would be sued and the licence revoked, but the damage

has been done. All you wanted to do was to eat clean.

Unfortunately, this is the same thing that is happening to turtles, fish, whales... basically many innocent creatures in the ocean that, like you, just want to eat clean, but are unknowingly poisoning themselves with what they eat. What’s worse is that when they die, no ‘shop’ is going to close, no one is going to be liable.

Because these dead do not have a voice.

The beautiful mermaid in the picture strives to give a face to the voiceless. Her unknowingly consuming junk while thinking she’s eating a healthy bowl of salad is what

nightmares are made of to the younger generation.

If showing pictures of plastic floating in the ocean doesn’t impact people,

then maybe sharing the struggles marine life face to ‘eat clean’ would hit a little closer to home and perhaps garner a little more sympathy, which

hopefully translates to more responsible actions.”