SHARED VALUES

HEALTY SEAS – A JOURNEY FROM WASTE TO WEAR

‘Healthy Seas, a Journey from Waste to Wear’ initiative was established with the aim to remove waste, in particular fishing nets, from the seas for the purpose of creating healthier seas and recycling marine litter into textile products. The recovered fishing nets are transformed and regenerated together with other Nylon waste by Aquafil into ECONYL® yarn, a high-quality raw material used to create new products. The initiative is operating in Europe, focusing on the North Sea, Adriatic and Mediterranean Sea, all regions important for biodiversity and tourism and also heavily used for fishing.

The discarded, lost, or abandoned fishing nets are often called “ghost nets”, since they continue to catch fish and other marine animals without human involvement. Millions of marine animals, including sharks, dolphins, seals and turtles suffer and die because of entanglement in these nets. Fishing gear may be abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded in one part of the world and end up in another. Oceanic currents and winds can carry ghost fishing gear thousands of kilometres. Even remote Antarctic habitats are not free from this pollution – every ocean and sea on Earth is affected.
Healthy Seas provides a showcase at European level for circular economy and sustainability while highlighting that waste is too valuable to be wasted. The strength of Healthy Seas lies in its partnership of businesses and NGOs working towards the same aim: a better planet and healthier seas, while learning-by-doing and being open to new partners and creative idea

“We can’t save the world alone, but by doing something good we hope to inspire others to follow. According to a recent report, by 2050 there will be more plastic in the seas & oceans than fish. We all have to work hard against it, not to let it happen.”

Veronika Mikos

ONE PLANET ONE FUTURE

“One Planet One Future” is an art project conceived and created by photographer Anne de Carbuccia which aims at documenting the damages caused by man to the environment. Anne has been travelling the world for the past few years looking for places, inspiration and stories which may nourish and become the setting of her art. Over 150 pictures, videos and conferences now testify of the beauty and variety that our planet is risking to lose because of drought, waste, desertification, which are also led to many species of animals being endangered….
“One Planet One Future” uses the universal language of art to draw people’s attention to the crisis we are living, and to encourage us to behave differently to prevent further environmental disasters.
For each picture, Anne has created a Time Shrine, containing specific symbolic artifacts: Vanitas, a sixteenth century theme; the skull, standing for life frailty; the Hourglass, to remind us of the fact that time flies and that our hourglass is about to run out of sand; and, finally, some organic elements and objects chosen for their symbolic meaning. The image of the shrine in these pictures is a way to pay homage to what surrounds it and is meant to invite us to think about who we are and what we want for our future.

“If you throw away a bottle in one continent, you may find it on a wild beach on the other side of the world. Or it may get eaten by a fish, and such fish will end up in your dish. The world as never been so small and we have never been so powerful. We are the cycle of life, and we share the very same planet and the very same future.”

Anne De Carbuccia