Litlu skrefin telja mest

When big decisions come to mind and enthusiasm for a particular issue, even a revolutionary one, is not certain that one has thought it through to the end. I was absolutely certain of that when I jumped into the sea and intended to show the world what a mistake we were in regarding the pollution of the ocean and our disrespect in those matters. Of course, there were those who spoke of the audacity and a certain insanity of a person who intends to change this age-old saying that "The sea takes a long time to change". This was in 1995.

Nýkominn heim frá kennaranámi í sportköfun í Flórída hafði ég einsett mér að taka upp nýstárlega aðferð til að auka áhuga nemenda minna á sportköfun og bjóða þeim uppá frítt námskeið í faginu sem snérist um það að tína upp smárusl sem við sáum á hafsbotni sem ekki tilheyrði því umhverfi og hafði ratað " óvart " í hafið. Þessi óhefðbundna kennsluaðferð varð gríðarlega vinsæl meðal nemenda minna og nemendahópurinn kallaði sig Blái herinn, þeir voru hermenn hafsins að hreinsa upp rusl og drasl. Blái herinn eru fyrstu samtök á heimsvísu sem tileinkuðu sér það að hreinsa hafið.

In order to reach the leaders and those who would benefit most from having a clean ocean, a certain strategy was needed, which can be called Small Steps Count Most. It involved taking underwater photos of the debris that was there and after the cleanup, the results were weighed and sorted as best as possible, iron went its own way, batteries went to the hazardous waste stream and internet junk and such went its own way. The main thing was to keep an account of the results for each cleanup. This message was delivered to the nation's leaders every year and is still being delivered to those who need to be introduced to the issue.

Eftir nokkrar mjög svo velheppnaðar hreinsunaraðgerðir í höfnum á Reykjanesi þar sem fjölmiðlar fengu að fylgjast með kom að ákveðinni úrslitastund. Haldið var ársþing allra hafnarstjóra á landinu þar sem undirritaður fékk að halda erindi um störf Bláa hersins.

Sýndar voru myndir af hafsbotni, ruslahaugum fortíðarinnar og óskað eftir því að hafnasamlög landsins færu í vegferð sem gæti snúið þessum ósóma við. Þarna fæddist vegferð Landssambands Íslenskra Útvegsmanna " Hreint haf--Hagur Íslands ".

Hafnir landsins fóru í gegnum þann feril að taka á móti sorpi og því sem til féll frá skipum landsins og koma því í betri farveg í landi. Í dag eru þessi málefni í miklu betri farvegi hjá okkur Íslendingum og verður bara betri með hverju árinu sem líður.

The first five years of the Blue Army's work were spent exclusively on cleaning up garbage from harbors here in the Reykjanes Peninsula, then beach cleanups began in and around the harbors and in harbor areas. All of this has been taken as one small step at a time, working with all stakeholders to improve and increase respect for the cleanliness of the ocean. Otherwise, the song needs to be blown a little in the media to wake up some ghosts, but it always happens regularly and always yields better results as a collaborative project. Today, it is possible to look back on the journey and put the journey in such a way that the Small Steps counted the most because they always came as a direct continuation of the previous steps that were taken with deliberate planning and with cooperation in mind with all the stakeholders who have the most to have a Clean Sea and Land.

Á 28 árum hefur verið hreinsað upp yfir 1750 tonn af " óæskilegu hráefni " úr höfnum, fjörum og opnum svæðum á Íslandi, þessi verkefni eru vel yfir 600 á landsvísu og yfir 11 þúsund sjálfboðaliðar hafa lagt þessum verkefnum lið.

The Blue Army is a founding member of the World Cleanup Day event, which received the United Nations Sustainability Prize for Teamwork in 2023.

Með vinsemd og virðingu

Thomas J. Knutsson

founder and CEO of the Blue Army

The small steps count the most