THE FUTURE IS IN OUR HANDS, IN PUNTE DEL ESTE, URUGUAY

Take 3 Ambassador and Clipper Race crew member, Dianne McGrath, managed to squeeze in another beach clean-up while on a stopover in Punte del Este, Uruguay. Here’s what she told us:  

“During our Leg 1/2 Clipper Race stopover, I accompanied Clipper Race crew volunteers, local school children and junior Yacht Club Punta del Este members to do a beach clean-up at Brava Beach in Punta del Este.  Brava Beach is where the famous sculpture La Mano (the hand) can be found. 

I spoke with some of the children while we were collecting rubbish from the beach, wanting to understand why they chose to be there on this day, and to do this activity. “It is our future,” one young boy said. “It is to protect our ocean, our water, and the sea lions.” 

My fellow Clipper Race colleagues commented that it was a great way to spend the morning. We got to see La Mano, the beach, and to be outside while doing something good for the environment. We collected over seven large garbage bags full of litter as well as other large items such as crates and construction materials. The most common items I picked up were plastic including plastic bottle caps, micro plastics and nurdles. Cigarette butts came a close second. 

The organisation URUMEPA (Uruguayan Marine Environmental Protection Association) facilitated the clean-up in partnership with Yacht Club Punta Del Este and Clipper Race. URUMEPA believes that “No se puede pasar un solo día sin tener un impacto en el mundo que nos rodea. Lo que hacemos marca la diferencia, y tenemos que decidir qué tipo de diferencia queremos hacer”; which roughly translates to, ‘You can’t spend a single day without having an impact on the world around us. What we do makes a difference, and we have to decide what kind of difference we want to make’. 

Spending the morning with my race crew colleagues and the children of Punta del Este collecting litter demonstrated how easy it is to have a positive impact on our world. All our human-sized actions add up to planet-sized solutions. The future is in our hands!”