Photo: Courtesy of Maryna Linchuk1/8“What drew me to Parley is it doesn’t fit into any category I’ve seen before. It’s not a protest organization. It’s a new kind of network and movement of innovators and creatives, and that’s something that speaks to me. I’m not one to hold up a sign and preach to people. But I do want to use my time to change things and see that I can make a difference, even if it’s just a small one. This is such a huge problem, it’s easy to feel like, ‘How can I be of any use?’ But if you start just by speaking to people, by explaining as simply as possible, without blame, what’s going on and why we need to fix it, it’s common sense. We have to act.”
Photo: Courtesy of Maryna Linchuk2/8“Once you understand that plastic is everywhere in the oceans, on every beach and shoreline, just completely surrounding us, you can’t unsee it or ignore it anymore.”
Photo: Courtesy of Maryna Linchuk3/8“Recycling isn’t the only part of the solution. What helps is if [companies] stop producing plastic—that is the true long-term solution—but to get to that, you have to make everyone aware of the issue and committed to finding a resolution. Right now, you have oil companies and that is their life. That’s what they do, but there are alternatives—if we can utilize materials that are friendlier to the environment and fund research to develop something biodegradable that can replace plastic.”
Photo: Courtesy of Maryna Linchuk4/8“Swimming has always been a big part of my life. I enjoy being alone and it’s one of the best forms of exercise that somehow doesn’t really feel like exercise. At some point, the motion becomes almost automatic. You stop thinking and you just swim; you experience the water, take pleasure in moving through it, feel in sync with your body and one with the element.”
Photo: Courtesy of Maryna Linchuk5/8“When you think Maldives, you think about this paradise—beautiful islands and beaches. But then you go to these islands that aren’t inhabited, and you see where there is plastic waste up to your knees. It’s actually crazy; you get depressed looking at it. I travel a lot and we always go to beaches for shoots or vacation, but you’d never think that level of pollution existed within the same place.”
Photo: Courtesy of Maryna Linchuk6/8“Cleaning up beaches at Parley Ocean School taught me to look at the problem and really see it. The act of removing all these useless items from the sand—toothbrushes, bottles, bottle caps, pieces of dolls, flip-flops, we even found a refrigerator—it changes you, not just the way you act. You feel it inside. We could go to the most remote island and still find plastic trash. Even if there were no trace of humans beings on that island, it just washes in with the tide.”
Photo: Courtesy of Maryna Linchuk7/8“On every island we would visit, we would go and speak with locals, especially the kids. They were always so helpful; we did a lot of work with the kids, spending time teaching them about recycling.”
Photo: Courtesy of Maryna Linchuk8/8“Parley Ocean School shattered the misconception I had of the oceans as this huge, indestructible force. I’d always felt the oceans were so vast, they were untouchable. Then I learned the reality: The oceans are about to die; the damage is already so big. We live and act as though we cannot alter the sea, we cannot break this ecosystem, when in truth it’s just the opposite. Everything we do has an impact on the oceans. They are more sensitive and marine life more endangered than we ever imagined. And then to learn how little time is left to change the ways we are living on this planet—it was eye-opening. Shocking, really.”
