5 tips for becoming a Torchbearer in 2022

Dive against Debris

Along the lines of diving with a purpose! Here at The Fifth Point we make every dive count and take a trash bag with us on every dive. Picking up even a few little bits can make a huge difference! That may be the life of a fish that mistakes a plastic bag, for example as food! We’ve had dives where we (thankfully) find nothing and dives where there were fields of trash everywhere, as far as the eye could see. You even get extra awesome Diver points if you find something cool. We have a set of false nashers at the Dive Centre in our interesting underwater finds cabinet. 

Treat yourself this Christmas to a trash bag and be the best eco-warrior you can be! Check em out here. 

Think about your choices

Yep, make sustainable choices. Do you really need that new top or do you just want it? Did you know that the fast fashion industry produces millions of tonnes of textile waste every year. Do you know where it ends up? In the Ocean one way or another. Whether it's physically dumped directly into the Ocean or burnt on land, the Ocean is the largest carbon sink globally therefore the emissions produced from the combustion are absorbed by our precious waters. Plus, clothing contains them nasty microplastic fibres that we all hate so much. Why not try second hand shopping, often the pieces you find in Charity shops or on apps such as Depop are cooler anyways! Oooh and try to buy local, reduce them miles! If you’re a little more creative, attempt the whole upcycling thing too. I have tie dyed jeans, random tops I've cropped and bags I've made from off-cuts. Have a go! Spice up your wardrobe. Donate clothes and be better. 

Reduce, reuse and recycle. This is so applicable to literally everything so give it a go. One of the biggest and most discussed issues that this list of 3 is related to is single use plastics. Ditch em where you can! Buy yourself a reusable water bottle, pick out loose veg from the shop and buy yourself little reusable essentials that you can keep forever. 

Another way to make an active change and create action is to choose to write to your local politician and make our issues known. Think global, act local. 

A difficult one for many is to stop supply and demand. We’re all little speckles in comparison to the bigger picture. Although, our little speckles together can create HUGE change! The bigger picture being Trans National Corporations that have no consideration for the environment, fuel climate change and Greenwash. Give local shops a chance to thrive.  Think of where the product has came from, it's journey and the raw materials it's extracted.  

Finally, our Carbon footprint. Walk or carshare where you can, buy local where you can and account for it. Here at The Fifth Point, Nic offsets all of our emissions. There's a load of websites to do it but she decided to go for ‘The Ocean Foundation’. Have a little read, choose your fave and offset some emissions! 

Protect what you love

It all comes down to this. If we make small alterations to our day to day life then we can protect what we love as a united team. 

Educate yourself and others 

One of my fave points ever as it's free and easy. You could literally just send the link of this blog to a friend (shameless self-promo), watch a documentary or take a new course.  Find our Eco Speciality courses here. Everything adds up. Make your friends a small army of eco-warriors! Even them buying a reusable water bottle can save hundreds of single-use ones entering our Ocean.

The reason I became a Diver was to show people the epic shots of the underwater world… and the not so epic ones so that they can see exactly how and what we’re affecting. 

Not everyone can be perfect

Yup, check back to reality. Although the ideal picture is a global community of Hippies living off the land with our toes in the soil on a plant-based homegrown diet where we wear leaves as clothes. That's not always possible, we have lives. So, take 1 point from this blog and apply it to your life. Even if that is as simple as getting yourself that reusable water bottle I've not stopped going on about. Think about it though… we need water to live and drink a lot of it so it's an easy change! We can't all be perfect so be the best you can.