By Ditas Mendoza
Ocean Purpose Project (OPP), the award-winning social enterprise creating a significant impression on marine conservation through its innovative and impactful projects is the newest addition to TheOneHourProject’s (TOHP) growing partner organizations.
Located in Pasir Ris, Singapore, OPP is an inspiring story of the resilience and courage of its founder Mathilda D’Sliva to channel a life-altering experience into positive change. Unknown to many, Mathilda acquired three autoimmune conditions in 2015 after participating in a dragon boat competition where she was exposed to polluted waters. This unfortunate event motivated her to create OPP to kindle ocean conservation and plastic pollution prevention through creative projects at mass-scale impact.
With enormous amount of plastic floating on our ocean surface and building-up in our seabeds, OPP has expanded its endeavor to resolve the pressing issue on plastic pollution through notable and revolutionary programs such as:
- Bioremediation and Bioproducts. The rapid growth of algal bloom caused by fertilizers and pesticides that wash-up to ocean waters depletes oxygen and releases toxins harming marine life and fishing livelihood. OPP’s simple solution is to deploy ropes around the perimeter of fish farms where seaweed and mussels can latch on creating curtains of natural biofilters that absorb toxins consequently improving water quality. The grown seaweed and mussels are eventually harvested and utilized to create bioplastics.
- Behavior Change. Project White Sands is an initiative of OPP that aims to instill lasting behavior change in people by increasing awareness on marine plastic pollution through monthly beach clean-ups. Collected plastics are converted to low sulfur fuel, hydrogen and other products through the process of pyrolysis. This created opportunities to partake in ocean conservation to transform our shores and create a cleaner and safer place for marine life to thrive.
- Eco-Gardening. Involves building an herb garden and executing researches on the feasibility of using seaweed as fertilizers that will potentially create new markets and job opportunities. Non-traditional concepts to be understood and accepted require proper education, which the garden aims to provide as it will serve as an education space for the community.
OPP offers a wide range of volunteering opportunities for individuals, groups, schools, and online and offline opportunities for students. Be a volunteer and contribute to revolutionize the ocean conservation scene through beach cleans-ups, eco-gardening and research. Sign-up with OPP and other TOHP partner organizations by clicking here and dare to discover how your one hour can make a difference.
