Hi all,Looking for some ideas on marine waste management/reduction/reuse!Here's the brief: - The location is St. Helena Island, South Atlantic Ocean. - It's very remote and is supplied almost entirely by one ship from Cape Town every 3 weeks. - The island is surrounded by a 445km2 category VI MPA, which limits fishing activities, and there is a huge amount of biodiversity in the surrounding ocean, including very large seasonal aggregations of Whale Sharks and a number of endemic fish, plus 17 unique seamounts. - A runway was built on the island just 3 years ago, and tourism is being promoted and on the increase. - Tourism, fishing and exporting locally grown coffee are the main economy.Here's the issue: - Since most supplies are imported, packaging which becomes waste is brought with it, as well as old items and the usual generation of waste. - Marine plastics are also present, including microplastics from a major spill of nurdels off the coast of South Africa (a particular issue for filter feeders like the Whale Sharks).Here's the challenge: - We want to reduce the amount of waste coming to the island without negatively impacting the economy - We want to find ways to reuse the waste brought to the island out of necessity - We want to clear marine plastics from the coastline and surrounding waters where possible - We ultimately want to aim for a 'circular economy' where all materials needed on the island can be created from what is already present, so that no materials are "waste" materials. - We need an efficient and cost-effective system to do this.Acheiving this could legitimately change the future of the island (no exaggeration!) so all ideas welcome, basic or complex! Your idea could seed a whole genius plan, so please contribute anything you think of!Hoping to hear from people who may approach things differently and consider things we may not have thought of yet.TIA for all contributions, big or small!James
