Oceano Reddentes is a registered non-profit charity and brainchild of Jade Bothma who started the organization when she was 12 years old.
Oceano Reddentes expresses its mission as “Saving the sea one piece of plastic at a time”
With a strong vision to save the ocean and build homes for those in need.
In her own words:
It all started when I was watching a documentary called Chasing Coral.
This documentary made me want to help the coral reefs that were being bleached however, there are not many coral reefs where I live in South Africa.
I wondered how someone as young as me could make a difference. The ocean is my passion and I have always wanted to help people.
I wondered what happens to the plastic collected at beach clean-ups, where does it end up? Plastic collected at beach clean-ups were being sent to landfills in Cape Town, one is right by the beach. A large amount of the plastic sent there is eaten by sea birds or ends up blowing back into the sea.
Therefore, we send as much of the plastic collected at the beach clean-ups to the recycler. What cannot be recycled is then placed in eco-bricks.
I came up with an idea to make eco-bricks for five minutes every time I go to the beach and encouraging surf programs and people visiting the beach and at home to do the same.
When we have enough bricks we will build a house and community building for someone in need out of eco-bricks. Hopefully many houses and community structures in the future.
I feel the need to educate my generation to help protect the ocean from plastic pollution and save the planet from the climate change crisis it is facing.
I encourage you to recycle as much as possible, to refuse single-use plastic where possible, and to make eco-bricks. Come join us at our beach cleanups to learn how to recycle and learn about science and the ocean.
— Jade Bothma