Save The Baltic Sea

🌊 Today is International Day of the Baltic Harbour Porpoise (IDBHP)! 🐬 Introduced by ASCOBANS in 2002, IDBHP is celebrated around the Baltic Sea to raise awareness about the critically endangered harbour porpoise, the only cetacean to call the Baltic Sea it’s home. With fewer than 500 individuals left in the Baltic Proper and their population declining at rate of 1.5% per year (SCANS-IV report: https://ow.ly/wKpE50RJCas), their survival is under severe threat from multiple pressures. A report by HELCOM experts in 2023 on the status of harbour porpoises in the Baltic Sea (report: https://ow.ly/qz0l50RJCaq) identifies these as main threats: ⚠️ Bycatch – porpoises are frequently caught in fishing nets and subsequently drown. This is currently the main threat to their survival in the Baltic Sea. 🏭 Contaminants and waste - outputs into the marine environment can negatively affect porpoise health, reproduction and survival. 🐟 Prey depletion - from declining fish stocks in the Baltic Sea, like herring and cod. 🔊 Underwater noise - affecting their ability to hunt through echolocation. In February 2024, the Baltic Proper harbour porpoise was added to Appendix 1 of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals. This means stricter protections, including habitat conservation, migration route protection and stringent controls on threats. Let's work together to protect these majestic animals and ensure their future in the Baltic Sea! 💙 Join the event page: https://ow.ly/tm7W50RJCar

Challenges and good practices observed on the German coastline in the latest article by Laura Stukonytė. Have a read and learn more about what EPR stands for and the alternative use of beach wrack. 🐚 Thank you Mirco Haseler from Leibniz-Institut für Ostseeforschung Warnemünde and Nardine Stybel from EUCC - Die Küsten Union Deutschland for your insights! https://lnkd.in/dJS5bgYH Follow us for more information on the Baltic Sea's environmental state and ways to reduce our negative impact as our hiker team travels 6,000 km around its coastline 🚶♀️ #MarineLitter #SaveTheBalticSea #EU4Ocean #UNOceanDecade

We are proud to make it into the meme by Emilija Radlinskaitė :D

Would you walk 6000 kilometres to stop ocean pollution? While we can all agree that pollution is an important topic, and that it should be stopped, I guess most people wouldn’t take 9 months out of their calendar for a project like this - but luckily some people will ✨ I was invited to hear about the work of Save The Baltic Sea - a group currently walking all the way around the Baltic Ocean to advocate for its protection while documenting the pollution (I have already promised them a fine dining experience once the project has ended, because hot damn) I also got to talk in a panel, along with Lars Fogh Mortensen Thomas Drustrup from The Danish Plastic Federation and Isabel Aagaard from LastObject about accountability, responsibility and how to navigate the conversation about sustainability both in, and outside, of Europe one of my main points in the panel was about infrastructure, and how manufacturers of plastic currently have very little responsibility for their material once it’s out of the factory We need to reduce the volume of plastic we’re producing, and recycling is only a good place to start, and a bad place to stop - however, manufacturers of plastic should be responsible for creating the proper infrastructure to efficiently recycle it - its not all on taxpayers and never an issue we can fix with bio-plastic and good intentions 🌿 Thank you for the invitation Circular Ocean-bound Plastic, Ocean Plastic Forum and Save The Baltic Sea (shoutout to one of the most iconic greenwashed products I can think of: the tap water in tetra-pak, which has somehow found its way to all events with a slightly green angle, I can drink water from the tap without the mark-up and additional plastic thank you) #oceanpollution #savethebalticsea #ocean #zerowaste #zerowastelife #lesswaste #plasticfree

Join our team! We're looking for a PR Specialist to lead our efforts in spreading awareness and inspiring action for the preservation of the Baltic Sea 🌊

This week we were fortunate enough to spend 4 days in Copenhagen, Denmark. We haven’t had as many days sleeping in one place since the beginning of the expedition, so it definitely felt like a nice reward after 50 days. However, we were in Copenhagen not just to explore the vibrant streets where history, culture, and modernity intertwine seamlessly. The main reason was that we had three exciting events planned! On Monday, the 29th of April, we attended an event where the Ocean Plastic Forum and Circular Ocean-bound Plastic hosted us on the Danish leg of our expedition. The goal of the event was to better understand the challenges of plastic pollution in the Baltic Sea, and seek for solutions. There, we had an insightful panel discussion on tackling plastic pollution with great guests, including Lars Fogh Mortensen , Candidate to the European Parliament; Gittemarie Johansen , Public Speaker and Sustainability Expert; Thomas Drustrup, managing director of the Danish Plastics Federation; Isabel Aagaard, Co-Founder of LastObject. We are very grateful to our co-organizers and all the participants. We finished our evening at the Embassy of Lithuania in Denmark where we met with the Lithuanians living in Copenhagen. We were greeted with songs, had a chance to share our experiences and answer some great questions. After a well-deserved day off, Wednesday evening brought us the final event in Copenhagen organized with LYS - Lithuanian Youth Society in Denmark along with Foodsharing Copenhagen. It was an educational yet engaging event where we learned more about the impact of our daily food choices on the Baltic Sea environment. We had a chance to share our experiences so far, talk about our biggest challenges, be a part of a discussion where we conversed about sea-friendlier, sustainable food choices and participate in a workshop on preventing food waste. We found out that one third of food produce is lost or wasted so we really should be more conscious and try to minimize it as much as possible! We’re very grateful for these eventful days in Copenhagen and wish to come back to this city some day! 🌞 #EU4Ocean #UNOceanDecade #SaveTheBalticSea #oceanliteracy

Save The Baltic Sea 🌊 I had the great pleasure yesterday to be the moderator of an amazing event in Copenhagen organised by the Lithuanian Youth Society in Denmark together with the Team from Save The Baltic Sea Expedition and backed up by Foodsharing Copenhagen An amazing team that started in March 2024 a 6000 km hike trough 8 countries over 9 months ... WHY??? 📢 To raise awareness that the Baltic Sea is one of the top 5 most polluted seas in the World. Sadly but WE, all of us humans are responsable of this and WE need to take action and change something in our lifestyle towards a better environment. Sophisticated words some people may say, but there are small actions that we can implement in our daily life to bring the change: 🥕 Choose vegetables and fruits grown on organic farms, this way supporting a more sea-friendly agriculture. 🔄 Give up single-use and non-recyclable products and use what we already have at home. 🧶Choose natural fiber clothes, and wash synthetic ones at the lowest possible temperature to reduce the shedding of microplastics 🚮Bring unneeded paint, bleaches, oils, pesticides and other hazardous chemicals to designated collection points for hazardous substances instead of throwing them down the drain, into the toilet or through rainwater grates. Just a few common sense advices that WE can implement from TODAY! 💚 #climatechange #changenow! #savethebalticsea #greendrinkscopenhagen

#OceanDecade Activity 🐋 Join us in supporting Save The Baltic Sea! Embark on an environmental hiking expedition around the Baltic Sea, spanning 8 countries and over 6000 km throughout 2024. This unique campaign aims to raise awareness about the critical state of the sea and educate the public on ways to improve it. Learn more: https://ow.ly/eg3w50Rpxsb

Don't forget to sign up to our free conference at Den Blå Planet, National Aquarium Denmark on Monday, April 29th to meet the hikers, expand your knowledge and enjoy the tour around the National Aquarium.👢🔍 🐠 We are exited too meet all of the participants and hear the speakers share their expert opinion on the problem of plastic pollution, solutions and the future of plastic and the Baltic Sea in Denmark. The program includes: 🌊 The Baltic Sea: Environmental issues and the role of Denmark and its neighbors / Søren Laurentius Nielsen, Programme Manager, Marine pollution at Think Tank Sea 🍶 Degradation of single use plastic products (SUP) in Danish weather and marine environments / Yvonne Shashoua, Research Professor at the National Museum of Denmark. ♻ From single use to re-use: How LastObject helps ordinary people to reduce single use through their daily habits / Isabel Aagaard, Co-founder, LastObject 🤝 Panel discussion: Marine pollution in Denmark What are the main challenges? What should be done? What is the role of politicians, industry and consumers? - Lars Fogh Mortensen / European Parliament candidate for Radikale Venstre - Gittemarie Johansen / Public speaker, author and sustainability expert - Thomas Drustrup / Director of the Plastics Industry - Isabel Aagaard / Co-founder, LastObject Sign up via the link below: https://lnkd.in/dms376ta Read more about the event and see the full program on our website. NB: The event is in English and is co-financed by the Interreg South Baltic Programme through the Circular Ocean-bound Plastic (COP) project. The activities of this event are partly implemented with the support of the #EU4Ocean Coalition funded by the European Commission.

Week 5 and 764 kilometers are already behind us. Crossing into Germany was extremely busy, we had many meetings, discussions, Living Lab events, and beach clean-ups... See all about it in this week's video newsletter! 🎥🌊 You can find out more about why we are hiking around the Baltic Sea and how you can help protect the waters around you at https://savebaltic.eu/ ~~~~~~ Praėjo penktoji savaitė ir jau iš viso įveikėme net 764 kilometrus. Įžengimas į Vokietiją buvo labai darbingas, turėjome daug susitikimų, diskusijų, " Gyvųjų laboratorijų" renginių, paplūdimių valymų... Apie visa tai žiūrėkite šios savaitės video naujienlaiškyje! 🎥🌊 Daugiau informacijos apie tai, kodėl žygiuojame aplink Baltijos jūrą ir kaip galite prisidėti prie Baltijos jūros apsaugos, galite sužinoti https://savebaltic.eu/ #SaveTheBalticSea #UNOceanDecade #EU4Ocean #ClimateAction #balticsea #IgnitisRenewables #expedition #awareness #sustainability #environment #protectouroceans #Eutrophication #climatechange #teamwork