{"id":330,"date":"2015-02-04T20:15:18","date_gmt":"2015-02-04T20:15:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ankewebersmit.com\/?p=330"},"modified":"2023-08-08T11:56:21","modified_gmt":"2023-08-08T11:56:21","slug":"away-with-apathy-make-a-visible-difference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ankewebersmit.com\/en\/away-with-apathy-make-a-visible-difference\/","title":{"rendered":"Away with apathy-Make a visible difference!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Matthijs<\/a>I believe in change from the bottom up, by taking small steps and making changes visible and intriguing. I believe in just doing what you feel needs doing, however small it may seem to one self at the moment. Because you never know who is getting inspired. Because every action can be the beginning little snowball which starts the avalanche.
\nTherefore it is simply wonderful for me to see that one particular person has done just that: started a movement, quite unaware of having done it actually, which grew out to be a national initiative for cleaning the Dutch sea and beaches.
\nSo today I proudly present to you: Matthijs\u00a0Lievaart<\/em><\/strong>.
\nMatthijs in action
\nMatthijs is the initiator of the project Doe mee-verlos de zee!<\/em> <\/strong>(\u2018join in-redeem the sea\u2019) which started in 2010 as a one-man-\u00a0initiative in De Kwade\u00a0Hoek\u00a0(dunes of Goeree, South Holland) and became a nationwide initiative. Texel has become the first municipality associated with the initiative, and also\u00a0Goedereede, Flushing, Bloemendaal\u00a0and Brielle joined. Where will the next \u2019jutbak\u2019(wooden bucket to collect debris in) be placed?
\nHistory<\/strong>
\nDoe mee-verlos de zee!<\/em> <\/strong>originated on the beaches of Goeree-Overflakkee. Artist Matthijs\u00a0Lievaart collected marine debris and piled it up. On top of this pile he fixed a self-made sign made of driftwood with the slogan “Doe mee-verlos de zee!<\/em> <\/strong>“. When he came back two weeks later to his surprise was the pile grown tremendously. Hikers had responded to his call in great numbers!
\n

\"The<\/a>

The original sign from driftwood<\/p><\/div>
\nRubbish<\/strong>
\nThere are no strong scientific data concerning the origins of plastics both at sea and on the beach. Some say that an estimated 80% of the garbage comes from land-based sources and 20% from ships. According to a 2011 United States Environmental Protection Agency report littering and illegal dumping seem to be the origin of beach and open sea rubbish. Debris is generated on land at marinas, ports, rivers, harbors, docks, and storm drains. Debris originates from sea from fishing vessels, stationary platforms and cargo ships. Currents carry debris from the west coast of North America to the gyre in about six years, and debris from the east coast of Asia in a year or less.
\n\"DOeMeeMatthijs\"<\/a>
\nDoe mee-verlos de zee!<\/em> <\/strong>aims to inspire, motivate and mobilize to clean up the coast together. To achieve\u00a0this, volunteers – in cooperation with local coastal management bodies – place beautiful wooden \u2018jutbakken\u2019 at beach entrances that invite to join in collecting the rubbish. At places where there (still) are no such bins we invite you to use the normal bins, or just put a bucket down yourself!
\nThere are also occasional cleanups of beaches, either organized by\u00a0Doe mee-verlos de zee!<\/em> <\/strong> or just spontaneous by enthusiastic hikers.
\n 
\nWell, funnily I\u2019ve been collecting rubbish on the beach wherever I passed for some years now so Matthijs\u2019 initiative makes me feel less both wired and extremely happy because it shows me that IT\u00a0REALLY WORKS TO INSPIRE CHANCE WHEN YOU ARE\u00a0 INSPIRED YOURSELF!
\nThank you Matthijs and all the other active contributors for this fantastic initiative.
\nYou see: ANYONE can make a visible contribution at ANY TIME!
\nI am\u00a0planning possible dates to do a beach sweep in Katwijk-where\u00a0there is no jutbak in place-as yet (-;<\/strong>
\nI\u2019ll be back with more details soon!<\/strong>
\n 
\n 
\n“My experience with Doe mee-verlos de zee!<\/strong>\u00a0taught me: if you want to bring about changes in attitude and behavior, you just start it yourself, show how to do it, and try to make it contagious. In other words: Do, Un-hide, make Divisible ”
\n“You upscale your own behavior; simply by imagining vividly: “what if everyone does this?”
\n(Matthijs\u00a0Lievaart)<\/em>
\n 
\n 
\nReferences:<\/p>\n

Visie<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n