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 

My name is Veronique, I live in Kiel and manage the social media channel from here. In addition to my studies, I like diving and spend as much time as possible in and around the water. That’s why protecting the oceans is important to me. To put it in the words of Silvia Earle:

“We need to respect the oceans and take care of them as if our lives depend on it.

Because they do.“

Traditional sailing vessels

All these vessels are part of our Manta Trawl fleet and actively support the project. Together we can cover a large area of the North and Baltic Sea.

Albin Köbis

Sailing area Baltic Sea

Windsbraut

Sailing area North Frisian Wadden Sea and the Elbe River

Pippilotta

Sailing area Baltic Sea

Amazone

Sailing area North Sea, Baltic Sea and the Elbe River

Labor Sanitas

Sailing area around Föhr and North Frisian Wadden Sea

event nature

Sailing area Schlei

Eye of the Wind

Sailing area North Sea, Baltic Sea, Mediterranean Sea and Caribbean Sea

Avatar

Sailing area North and Baltic Sea

Johanna von Amrum

Sailing area North Sea and the Elbe River

Hoop op Welvaart

Sailing area North Sea and the Elbe River

Seestern

Sailing area Kiel Fjord and Danish South Sea

Lovis

Sailing area Baltic Sea and riparian countries

Providentia

Sailing area Baltic Sea and Danish South Sea

Aurora von Altona

Sailing area the Elbe river, North and Baltic Sea, worldwide sailing

Ryvar

Sailing area Baltic Sea

Thor Heyerdahl

Sailing area North and Baltic Sea, worldwide sailing

Roald Amundsen

Sailing area North and Baltic Sea, worldwide sailing

Petrine

Sailing area Wadden Sea, North and Baltic Sea

Fortuna

Sailing area Danish South Sea and Baltic Sea