United we Stand, Divided we Fall

Saturday 28^th March was 2015’s Earth Hour day, a day where people across the planet united in the fight against climate change. Between the hour of 2030 and 2130, people turned off their lights to raise awareness and combat the growing pressure on our climate from energy consumption.

The overall impact of turning the lights off for one hour could be minimal, but if everyone, everywhere did it, it can be huge, which is what Earth Hour is all about. Uniting the nations and people to a common goal. At 2030 on Saturday, we joined the movement and turned off our electricity and wandered down to the beach to sit in semi darkness, talk, tell jokes and riddles and do our part.

Of course, regular followers of Blue Temple will know that Dave suggested we all attempt to make something out of rubbish. The guys from the Ecoteer community project got involved as well and we saw some exciting and creative designs. So a massive well done to everyone involved!

Sereena created a lifelike elephant from an old kettle,
some cans, rope and milk cartons

Stevie, Aleasha and Tiffany created an awesome Turtle mosaic
 from old bottle caps and beer cans

Shauna created a ghostly candle holder from an
old detergent bottle

Rachel made these beautiful flowers and vase from old egg cartons,
old fishing wire and an upcycled plastic bottle

Dave's vertical hanging garden with origami, tin can flowers!

Dave's signpost for local cafe to encourage tourists
to dress respectfully

Along with the mini projects, the guys from Ecoteer Turtle project, Ecoteer Community Project and the Blue Temple team united in a team effort to clean up the Turtle nesting beach at Tiga Ruang on the big island. A hard-working morning saw the teams collect 15 bags of rubbish from along the beach, large portions of which was plastic, the scourge on our environment (more on this to follow later in the week).

The teams united for one cause!

15 bags!

 “Great things are done by a series of small things being brought together.”

Vincent Van Gogh

Litter in our Oceans; Blue Temple Earth Hour initiative

Litter is something so regularly discussed on the internet and by us that is hardly seems useful mentioning again. However, the last few weeks have seen a huge effort from the volunteers and team to get as much litter and trash cleaned up as we can.

Litter comes in many shapes, sizes and forms. Perhaps the most damaging and long-lasting type is plastic. Plastic is a (mostly) synthetic product, often derived from petrochemical processes and materials, resulting in a light, cheap and easy to produce material which has become one of the most commonly used materials for packaging.

An interesting fact often said about plastic is the length of time it takes to break down. Except of potentially organic plastics, any plastic made from synthetic materials will never biodegrade, they simple get weaker and break into smaller and smaller pieces, eventually becoming so small they can appear as grains of sand or float unseen in our waters, filling the bellies of marine and freshwater species, resulting in illness and death.

It is estimated that 8 million tonnes of plastic reach our oceans annually, that is almost 23 tonnes of plastic EVERY DAY entering our planets life source. People could be forgiven in thinking our oceans are a large space ideal for trash disposal due to their size and our relative lack of knowledge of the deep. But no one can begin to argue that 23 tonnes of plastic every day is a long term sustainable scenario.

People state plastic is difficult to recycle due to the huge variety in types of plastic, and they’d be right. The answer isn’t necessarily recycling, it is instead reducing the amount we use. Instead of using plastic bags when you go shopping, take a back-pack or your own ‘bag for life’, they are cheap and long lasting. Thankfully, some states in the USA are taking positive action against the plastic world we are living, New York have bannedpolystyrene containers whilst California are trying to ban plastic bags. These are steps we all need to take if we are to make a difference.

The team after a long clean up at Long Beach - 10 full bin bags collected

For our part, we recently conducted an underwater clean up with Universal Diver, Pulau Perhentian, where, over two dives, we collected up to 500kg of plaster board.

Universal Diver and Blue Temple unite to clean up the ocean

We have also conducted numerous beach and village clean ups, collecting close to 300kg in plastic, fishing and glass trash. We have not even scratched the surface of the litter problem.

Our only answer is to cut it out of our lives, think before we buy and try to buy fresh with paper of tote bags. You can be the difference. Get involved in our Earth Hour initiative and build something cool out of trash you find on the beach, in the woods, in the street. Our team are creating bracelets out of straws, clocks from old bottle caps, musical instruments and flowers. Join in and post your pictures to our Facebook page.