It's everybody's ocean,

it's everybody's problem.

 

This documentary tells a story of how marine debris is affecting the people of Ikema, a tiny and beautiful island of the Miyako Islands, known for its stunning coral reefs. The island's once pristine beaches now play host to tons of plastic marine debris, originating from all over Asia, polluting their beaches, and threatening the lives of marine species. This is the story of a small island struggle with plastic pollution.

 

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Because of the geographical location of the island, tons of trash from South East Asia washes up on their

beaches. The amount of marine debris increased 10 times from 1998 to 2005. The people of Ikema are committed to keeping the beaches clean and free from marine debris. They do this to prevent trash from going back into the ocean after storms, and to preserve tourism. But most importantly, they do this because of their spiritual commitment to the island. Still, cleaning doesn't decrease the amount of trash that washes up.

 

 

Up to 90% of Ikema's marine debris is coming from countries such as China, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, 

Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Singapore, and Malaysia - the combined population of which is 1.9 billion!  Only a tiny fraction of the marine debris from those countries ends up on Ikema and Miyako Islands. The rest is carried by ocean currents, mixing with the garbage from Japan's 127 million residents,potentially ending up on beaches of California and Hawaii, or killing animals, fish, and polluting the ocean. By showing the problems of  collecting, transporting, hauling, and incinerating marine debris on this micro island, this film will tell the need of an international discussion and 

action plan.