The Project

The Citizen Science project WENIGER IST MEER is committed to less single-use plastic and wants to prevent plastic from entering in our environment sooner rather than later. How exactly do we want to reach this and who is behind this project?

Our vision

The name says it all.

We want less of everything that does not belong in the sea. We want our seas to be clean again. We want to create an awareness in more people of our global problem with plastic waste, and influence individual behaviour changes to reduce waste at local levels. Less waste is more sea, less consumption protects the environment: WENIGER IST MEER.

Those who see with their own eyes and have a hands-on experience feel responsible to act. We start with ourselves, but there are no limits to our range. The more people we have with us, the more we can achieve.

Citizen Science

Why us and not just the scientific community?

Together with many traditional sailing vessels we sail out into the North and Baltic Sea and bring our self-built Manta Trawls to work. Everyone (on board) are asked to participate in the project, analyze the findings. This is called Citizen Science.

The advantage of this approach over scientific surveys is that it allows us to study a large area of the sea simultaneously with an independent fleet that is out at sea anyway. With the help of dedicated people on board, not only can we contribute to research, but also to education.

We established an approach that is not dependent on a complicated and expensive scientific setup. It rather enables anyone to easily discover, report, inform and learn from the collected data/research data. Anyone interested in the topic is highly welcomed to participate in the research process as a citizen scientist.

Also, we are far too curious ourselves to just wait for the results of others.

About us

The people behind this project

We are Caro and Lauren. We both live in Flensburg and are active advocates for more environmental protection. As passionate sailors we love the sea and know about its importance for life on earth. Life originated in the sea, and everything, really everything, is connected to the sea in some way. We think- this is reason enough to be involved in the conservation of our seas.

Social Media

I am Max and I do live in Kiel and manage the social media channel from there. In addition to my studies, I am involved in the Ocean Summit for the Baltic Sea and our oceans. Being a native of Kiel, you must love the Baltic Sea and you have to protect what you love.