In one of life’s many coincidences, I joined the Bund Naturschutz in my hometown of Vaterstetten just a few weeks after my arrival. Through the help of its president, Gregor Hauser, I unexpectedly found myself meeting a local journalist, Susanne Edelmann. She expressed interest in hearing about my journey through Arctic waters in Iceland. My limited German led me to believe I could write a small article for a local newspaper. After all, my photographs had already been featured multiple times in LeVA (the local Vaterstetten newspaper) thanks to my ongoing collaboration with the Bund Naturschutz. It seemed like a natural next step.
Little did I know, however, that she wanted to interview me instead! At first, I was taken aback, as I had been eager to write. But a friend helped me realize that, just this once, I was the story. Crazy right?
During the interview, I recounted my journey—the breathtaking beauty of Arctic and Sub-Arctic waters, the thriving wildlife, and the stark reality of human impact on these pristine areas. I made sure to convey the disheartening truth: even in the most remote and inaccessible parts of the world, human waste tarnishes nature’s magnificence. How is this possible? In places where few, if any, have set foot, trash abounds. Fishing nets become ensnared in rocks, breaking down over time into millions of microplastic particles. Floating in the water, we found hundreds of these tiny fragments. On remote beaches, even children’s toys had washed ashore.
“But what can we do?” she asked me.
I told her, “I can’t blame anyone. We all make mistakes. Accidents happen—a piece of trash might fall from your pocket onto the ground sometimes. Maybe our countries aren’t even the biggest contributors to this global issue. But we can all strive to do better. We can minimize pollution, recycle, and ensure that our waste is treated properly. It’s a small step, but it matters.”
Here's the article originally published in the Ebersberg Zeitung/München Merkur:
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