Willow Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith do their part for the earth by cleaning 22 bags of rubbish while on holiday in Greece.
Croatia, to most is a dream holiday, a destination people pine after or book their vacation a year in advance – just to spend one week in the sunshine, pristine waters, exploring any one of the thousand islands strung along the coast. Every which way you look is like something out of a glossy travel magazine, except here it is, staring you in the face – all real and achingly beautiful.
This could be said for much of the Mediterranean, island destinations hold a distinctive charm that invite us in and allow us to lose ourselves or escape from real life, even just for a moment…
But this natural beauty and charm is not guaranteed.
Plastic Pollution – we have talked about it before, in fact the world is talking about it, but hearing numbers like ‘the world is currently producing 311 million tonnes of plastic and is expected to double’, seems intangible. Even the concept ‘by the year 2050, plastic will outweigh fish in the oceans’ – while visual, seems preposterous. (source: World Economic Forum)
And yet, I have been sailing the Adriatic for 5 years now and have already noticed an overwhelming increase of plastic at sea and in the bays. I am not mean to say this, because I am supposed to be an advocate for sailing in Croatia (which I am). But turning a blind eye achieves nothing. The fact is, the world is not as ‘big and disconnected’ as it once was, no country is immune to the effects of mass-pollution and destruction. Plastic doesn’t disappear and all of our waterways eventually link up. You do the maths. I have written before about people in Croatia – locals and travellers alike, doing their part and participating in beach clean-ups (read more here).
So, when I spotted Willow Smith’s Instagram page with pictures of herself along with her mother – Jada Pinkett Smith and locals cleaning beaches in Greece, my heart melted – yes, I said Greece, not Croatia, but bear with me.
Official Willow Smith Instagram
Her post read:
“Being so far away from what I perceive as a polluted metropolis, I couldn’t stand seeing these beautiful beaches in Greece littered with trash," Willow wrote on Instagram, alongside a slideshow of their clean-up. "I saw seagulls, dead on their backs from choking on tiny slivers of plastic and other non-biodegradable materials."
"Four beautiful humans accompanied my mom and I in gathering 22 trash bags full of plastics and urban debris off of 3 small beaches in Antípaxos, Greece," she continued. "When we see these things on our TV’s or phones it seems far away for some reason; But when it’s right in front of you I feel as though it is humanities responsibility to do as much as we can (in the moment and long-term) no matter how small the action is."
"As we all start to do our part, we gradually make a difference," she added. "Hopefully today we were able to elongate and preserve the beauty & existence of the local sea life.”
This post got 62,919 likes (and counting) and was accompanied by more than 1,000 comments, with sentiments such as – thank you, amazing, leading by example, the small things add up, you are a gift – thank you for calling us all to action…
As well as being liked and commented on by thousands, this act has hit media worldwide, everyone raving about how amazing this is. And it is. Whether we love it or hate it, this is the power of celebrities these days, their actions have the potential to affect thousands of people.
I have said it before and I will say it again, we all need to do our part in our day-to-day lives to make a positive difference. Jada and Willow Smith cleaning 22 bags of rubbish from beaches in Greece is incredible, but imagine what we could ALL achieve if we each played our role. I hope, with every ounce of my being that Croatia continues to be the picture-perfect destination that it is today. I cannot even begin to fathom that my children or grandchildren, have anything other than the crystal clear waters of the Adriatic to swim in.
So, if it’s good enough for the Smiths, it’s good enough for us! Reduce plastic and if you see it, pick it up – we are all in this together!
Living or travelling in Croatia, if you participate in a beach clean-up, post your pics to TAKE 10 and join the movement (we can’t promise you will get 60,000 hits on Instagram, but we can promise you will feel amazing).
Know of more positive actions happening around Croatia, head to Total Eco's Facebook page and let us know.
