#fishingtheplastic
What is it?

#fishingtheplastic” is a project promoted by BasN, in partnership with Ovar town hall. It is one of six projects having won the “Small Grants Scheme #1 – Projects for the prevention and the environmental awareness of marine waste reduction” contest, funded by the Environment’s Financial Mechanism from EEA Grants, which had received 24 applications.

Project Presentation Video.
Objectives

The project’s purpose is to increase, in an innovative and consistent manner, the awareness of people whose lives and livelihoods are directly intertwined with the sea on the problem of ocean plastic waste.

There are 3 main objectives:

  • To promote habits and practices reducing the amount of plastic waste floating in and polluting the world’s oceans.
  • To foster the transition to a greener, low-carbon, circular economic model.
  • To contribute to a more sustainable and environmentally friendly way of life.
To whom? And how?

The project is geared towards the entire population of Ovar, working with and involving local stakeholders – whose activities are directly related to the sea –, including individuals, companies, and sports and recreational activities associations.

Keenly aware that volunteering is crucial to the community’s resilience, solidarity, and social cohesion, the project’s organizers thus aim to promote a greater sense of both collective and personal responsibility by allowing locals to take part in several volunteering activities.

The role of fishermen and women

Taking into account the key role that fishing communities play when dealing with the problem of plastic waste residue floating in the world’s oceans and seas, the “#fishingtheplastic” project cannot come into fruition without the cooperation of such communities. What is more, without considering the role women from those communities play in the struggle for a plastic-free ocean, our project cannot succeed.

Therefore, this project will envision the acknowledgment of women’s part to play in society, in their families, and in their communities, in the transition towards a greener, circular economic model.

Thus, the “#fishingtheplastic” project will include:

  • Fishermen and women’s presence and participation at the event celebrating the launching of the project.
  • Conducting awareness and monitoring sessions.
  • Organizing the “Redes nas Redes” contest, in which the women of Ovar are challenged with creating new products out of marine plastic waste residue (using “Precious Plastic” technology). This competition includes:
    1. Conducting workshops (“Plastic Recycling/UpCycling”).
    2. Creating new, original products for sale.
    3. Organizing a traveling exhibition for those products created from plastic waste residue.
    4. Nominating prize winners.
    5. Divulging the women of Ovar’s creations.
  • Defining the model for the production and sale of the products made from marine plastic waste residue, whose profits will revert to the local fishing community (contributing to their continued interest in collecting and reusing marine plastic waste).
  • Acquiring new containers for the thorough separation and recycling of plastic waste (decorated with young schoolboys and schoolgirls’ drawings).

Schools

The future belongs to the children and the youth of today. Therefore, it is important to raise more active and involved young people to prevent environmental emergencies and come up with solutions to environmental problems. This, to foster their growing sense of climate responsibility, at the individual and societal levels.

Hence, this project will entail several initiatives, each of them geared towards students from a specific age group, whose purpose it is to increase young people’s awareness to the problem posed by marine plastic waste residue. As well as to incentivize the youth to find potential solutions to this crisis.

  • Kindergarten: Building waste residue bins out of plastic bottles.
  • Kindergarten to 4th grade: Fishing the plastic” drawing contest.
  • 5th to 6th grade: Doing away with plastic” photography contest.
  • 7th to 12th grade: Three days with no plastic” one-minute-long video contest.
  • 10th to 12th grade (only for women): “Sustainability ambassadors and neighborhoods” program.

At BasN, we are keenly aware that the road to climate neutrality is also paved with greater gender equality. This project aims, thus, to make the youth more aware of the environmental crisis related to plastic waste, as well as to teach them about sustainable consumption and the low-carbon economy paradigm. Further, it is our goal to help young women and girls develop their leadership and creative thinking skills. Such young women will then become their school’s or neighborhood’s “Focal points”, working to implement good, sustainable practice in their communities, whilst taking part in a mentorship program.

Local population and tourists

  • Cleaning beaches, collecting and categorizing waste residue.
  • Observing microplastics in the sand at the beach and in marine species.
  • A tartaruga entupida” (a theater play about marine plastic pollution).
  • Distributing reusable bottles, and cloth bags.
  • Installing drinking water fountains at the beach.
  • Placing advertisement billboards (made from plastic residue) at the beach during Summer, incentivizing people not to leave plastic waste residue there.
  • Exhibiting the video “#fishingtheplastic” via social media platforms.
  • Participating in the project’s opening and closing ceremonies.

Bars and restaurants close to the beach

  • Performing plastic audits.
  • Determining a workable plan of action for the reduction of single-use plastic consumption; monitoring and improving the effectiveness of such a plan.

Professional, sports, and recreation activities’ associations related to fishing and the sea

  • Working together with stakeholders; inviting such stakeholders to take part in our project.
The project’s image

Follow “#fishingtheplastic” on our social media accounts!

Our project’s main purpose is to increase awareness of different audiences to their lifestyle’s impacts on the pollution of the seas. We intend to show them how they themselves can promote the adoption of circular economy principles, as well as (personally and collectively) contribute to the dramatic reduction of marine plastic waste.

The name, “#fishingtheplastic”, says it all! Let’s go plastic hunting!

The hashtag, in the context of this project, does not only refer to social media. Rather, it is also meant to represent the nets that fishermen use to catch fish at sea. These men and women, and their communities, are our most important target audience.

The rounded font style, for its part, symbolizes our adherence to the principles of the circular economy, as well as our commitment to gender equality and to making the voices of women heard.

As to the colors chosen to represent the project – which are light, yet strong, and alluring -, those symbolize the Sun, the bathing areas at the beach, the summer heat, and, last but not least, clean beaches, free of plastic waste. These colors were also selected thanks to their close relationship to our organization (pink and green) and to the town hall of Ovar (blue and yellow).

#fishingtheplastic and the Sustainable Development Goals

The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (Agenda 2030) are at the heart of our project, especially the following objectives:

Timeline and Results

#fishingtheplastic timeline

December 2020

Concurso “3 dias sem plástico” – 3º ciclo e secundário


Já está no ar! Acompanhe nas redes sociais!

Dez.2020

Concurso “Plástico Fora” – 2º ciclo

 

Já está no ar! Acompanhe nas redes sociais!

16/11/2020

Lançamento do Video #fishingtheplastic

A assinalar o Dia Nacional do Mar, a BasN lançou neste dia o vídeo de curta-metragem #fishingtheplastic, de sensibilização e consciencialização para a problemática do plástico marinho, com vista à promoção de práticas e hábitos para a prevenção e redução dos plásticos nos oceanos, em especial plástico de uso único, e transição para uma economia circular.

 

Ler a notícia  |   Video PT  |  Video EN

12/11/2020

Lançamento do Imagem do Projeto

Na imagem do projeto #fishingtheplastic está depositado o seu principal objetivo de sensibilizar os diferentes públicos com a interação com o mar e mostrar o impacto real que estes podem ter no aumento da aplicação dos princípios da economia circular, prevenção, redução e reciclagem dos plásticos que existem nos Oceanos.

Conheça o seu significado!

 

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26/09/2020

1ª Iniciativa de Recolha de Lixo na Praia

 

 

A celebrar o Dia Internacional de Limpeza Costeira e o World Cleanup Day estivemos na Praia do Furadouro Sul.

  • 84 participantes na iniciativa (9 grupos até 10 pessoas, 1 deles de crianças em idade escolar)
  • 5 monitores voluntários a acompanhar os grupos
  • 1,5 km de praia
  • 147,5 kg de lixo marinho recolhido

 

Ver video  |  Equipa de monitores

15/06/2020 a 19/07/2020

Concurso “Pescar o Plástico” – alunos/as da pré-escola e 1º ciclo do Município de Ovar

 

Fantásticos os desenhos que estes meninos/as fizeram! Um especial agradecimento para eles e para os seus professores/as, que nesta reta final do ano aceitaram mais este desafio.

  • Participação de 47 alunos/as;
  • Apresentados 43 desenhos / mensagens sensibilizadoras;
  • Votação online, via facebook, com alcance de 56.252 pessoas.

 

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19/06/2020

Evento de Apresentação dos Projetos, promovido pela SGA

 

Realizado no Terminal Cruzeiros do Porto de Leixões em modelo híbrido, com a presença do Ministro do Ambiente e da Ação Climática, João Pedro Matos Fernandes; do Secretário de Estado de Planeamento José Gomes Mendes; do Embaixador da Noruega em Portugal, Anders Erdal; da Coordenadora da Unidade Nacional de Gestão do Mecanismo Financeiro, Susana Ramos; e, da Secretária-Geral do Ministério do Ambiente e da Ação Climática, Alexandra Carvalho.

 

08/06/2020

Assinatura do Contrato

A assinatura do Contrato, ocorre no dia 8 de junho de 2020, Dia Mundial dos Oceanos. Uma mera casualidade, que acaba por significar muito e na qual depositamos o nosso compromisso com a redução e prevenção da poluição dos Oceanos.

 

 

Março/abril 2020

Aprovação do Projeto

 

A comunicação da decisão de aprovação das candidaturas por parte da Secretaria Geral do Ambiente e Ação Climática, Operador do Programa Ambiente do EEA Grants (Link), é recebida na altura em que corriam as primeiras notícias sobre a pandemia provocada pela COVID-19 e estávamos à porta do 1º confinamento, longe de percebermos toda a esta sua evolução.

 

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