MyBeachProject is turning rubbish collected on Grand Anse on Praslin, the second most populated island in Seychelles, into pop art to inspire change.
The project was launched in 2019 by Stefanie Wichmann from Germany, now living on Praslin, who noticed some plastic bottles when walking on the beach for the first time.
Wichmann came to Seychelles to work with an agency but ended up staying and starting the MyBeachProject.
"I mainly take care of Grand Anse on a 3 kilometre stretch collecting trash and creating spontaneous pieces of pop-up art that I post on Instagram/Facebook to raise awareness on the matter and inspire change," she told SNA.
Wichmann then creates various works of art with the trash collected on the beach and takes pictures that are then made into postcards.
Since she started the project, she has collected 40,000 pieces of trash from the beach.
"A number I never would have guessed possible but it showed me how much a single person can do," Wichmann revealed.
Doing the extra work to help preserve the environment in the small island state, she explained that she simply uses her 1 kilometre walk to work and back to pick up litter, keeping off days for the bigger hauls.
Wichmann shared her sadness that so much trash is being thrown on the beach she visits and carelessly dropped again within a few hours after she has collected some of them.
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She started the clean-up project because "I always felt I'm here at the right time to tackle this issue and inspire people to become more aware of it, being more appreciative of the natural abundance Seychelles has to offer and to take action preserving this paradise on a larger scale."
Wichmann added that she did not believe she was cleaning up other people's messes but rather helping shift the mindsets to prevent it in the first place.
"Nobody is perfect, neither am I but it is about starting today with one little thing you can implement in your daily life. Imagine, if it is done by 100, 1000, or even everyone in Seychelles, how huge an impact it can make," she said.
Visitors to the MyBeachproject Facebook or Instagram pages can order the postcard that catches their eyes the most.
Wichmann is also launching an appeal for people to help with the cause since she cannot do it alone. In addition to her MyBeachProject work, she is also part of Fresh Focus on Praslin. Fresh Focus is a group that cleans beaches and hiking trails on the second on Praslin and recycles plastic waste.
