She is only 8 years old but she is already a great defender of the ocean. Thaaragai Aarathana dives into Indian waters to collect plastic and rid them of marine pollution.
Plastic suffocates our oceans. Its presence increases dramatically every year, invading every aquatic ecosystem, and if we do not react, it is estimated that by 2040 there will be about 50 kg of plastic per meter of coastline worldwide. Faced with this global crisis, there are those who try to resolve the situation. This is the story of Thaaragai Aarathana, an Indian girl who at the age of 8 dives into the bottom of the oceans to free them from plastic.
© Aravind Tharunsri
The great respect and love for the sea was inherited from his father, the diver and instructor Aravind Tharunsri. Hand in hand with him, on his first scuba dive, Thaaragai spotted jellyfish, a school of colorful fish, coral and - sadly - lots of plastic. She didn't want to ignore it, so she and her father collected as much as possible. Since then they started doing it all the time.
© Aravind Tharunsri
My father and I have a special bond with the ocean. I like swimming, exercise, dance, diving, cleaning, deepening awareness of marine life and plastic pollution ", tells us Thaaragai who never comes back from the beach without having collected and disposed of waste correctly in finding plastic.
© Aravind Tharunsri
Together with the cleaning work, Thaaragai and Aravind carry out awareness campaigns and participate in every possible event to inform people about the emergency of plastic in the sea and how to fight it means protecting our future and the planet. They even made a short documentary on marine pollution, presented in various schools to spread awareness and participation.
© Aravind Tharunsri
We must avoid using plastic in daily use and first clean our house making it plastic free, then our streets, our village or city, then the rivers and the ocean ... if we do it at least every week very seriously, we would help the our ocean freeing it from plastic and our marine life will be saved for future generations, ”advises Thaaragai.
© Aravind Tharunsri
With their effort to clean the beach and water, little Thaaragai and her father Aravind have so far collected over 600 kg of plastic bottles, which are then sold to recyclers. His intention is to donate the sum raised from the sale of plastic waste to the Tamil Nadu Department of the Environment, and thus contribute to supporting projects to protect the environment.
The bottom can be used to do away with plastic. Whenever I go scuba diving, the accumulation of plastic and nets haunt me. My father repeats that these are errors caused by the human being. Industrial waste, global warming, overfishing… these are problems that disrupt ocean life, ”explains Thaaragai.
This little girl is the concrete example of how each of us can do something to repair the damage that we humans have caused to the environment. Thaaragai already knows she has a great commitment to the Planet and she reminds us that it is never too early (nor too late) to start protecting it.
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