If your local beach looks cleaner than expected, thank 10-year-old Rocco Da Silva. “It became important to me to protect our coasts when I saw how bad our coastlines were looking,” he says. Around the world, plastic is piling up on land and drowning our seas. It’s estimated that by 2050, the tonnes of waste in the oceans will overtake that of fish.
Da Silva initially launched The Future Kids, a website to educate people on environmental problems such as pollution. But awareness alone wasn’t enough. “I realised it was no use waiting for someone to help clean the water,” he says. Following on from the online platform, Da Silva began monthly clean-ups on Strand Beach alongside a group of passionate youths. They’ve become a plastic picking force. Over the last year, they collected more than 1 200 kilograms of waste along a 400-metre stretch.
Da Silva’s environmental efforts have led him to becoming the youngest winner of the PETCO Waste Reduction Youth Warrior Award. Now, his aim is to grow his initiative to make a greater impact. “We’re quite small compared to other beach clean-up clubs,” Da Silva says. “But that doesn’t matter. That won’t stop me.” If the kids can do it, we can all get involved.
