[[ROW-INTRO]]What is WAD THE F*CK? Well, WAD THE F*CK is a campaign to call on young people to reflect on their own consumption habits. Trough a stimulating series of photos - in which they wear MUD Jeans - it becomes clear that we can and must live more environmentally friendly. 'Buy less, Buy good' and; clean up your mess! [[ROW-INTRO-END]]
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Why the Wadden Islands?
Esther Leystra and Mijke Bos, initiators of the campaign have a great love for both the Wadden Sea and the Wadden Islands. They both live in Dokkum, the fortified town of the Wadden.
It is a very unique area and therefore included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 2009. But the container disaster with the Msc Zoe was a disaster for the Wadden Sea. It made a deep impression on us. The litter lying around in and around this unique area also deserves attention.
This campaign focuses primarily on consuming youth; much of the litter is a result of (un)conscious behaviour. This target audience is used to fast fashion - the second largest environmentally polluting industry - and cheap online shopping. And this carries enormous risks. For example, many of these goods are transported by sea and so over the Wadden Sea. At the same time, part of this group is already very consciously and sustainably engaged, and there is plenty of room for positive behavioural change. And that is exactly what this campaign is about.
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Facts or myths about plastic waste
Of course, Esther and Mijke know all sorts of facts about plastic:
Did you know that a truck full of plastic is dumped into the ocean every minute worldwide? Also in the Netherlands we unfortunately have to deal with the floating plastic soup. Cotton swabs, plastic bottles, packaging, you name it!
Did you know that cigarette butts make up half of all litter in the Netherlands? And that it takes as much as 10 to 15 years for it to break down into very small pieces?
Did you know that it takes nature about two hundred years to break down soda cans from aluminium?
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What you can do
The message of the campaign is simple: buy consciously and clean up your mess! All the trash we find was made by human hands. That's why we also ask you to go back to the source. Stop and think about why you want to buy this. Do you really need it? How often am I going to use it? Is there an alternative? Is it made sustainably? Specifically, buy less, buy second-hand and buy at a fair price #buylessbuygood. And last but not least, just clean up your own mess after a lovely day at the beach or chill day in the park. 'Because really, it's not all that hard'. So if you're going somewhere. Always bring an extra bag and clean up any trash lying around!
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Taking action together
Would you rather take action with others? There are lots of cool initiatives you can participate in, like this one:
World Clean Up Day: September 18, 2021
JutXL on Terschelling: September 25, 2021
In Addition, there are activities throughout the year:
Throughout the Netherlands 'Nederland Schoon' is active to combat litter. They organise various activities with companies and schools https://www.nederlandschoon.nl/.
On Terschelling there is the https://www.dejutfabriek-terschelling.nl/. A very active club that does not see plastic as waste, but as a raw material. You go trough the whole cycle there: from littering to processing and finally producing something new.
Also keep an eye on https://www.ikjut.nl/. A nice initiative of the Wadden Association that started in Terschelling. In the future they want to roll out 'ikjut' on all the islands and along the entire Wadden coast.
On Texel you will find https://www.texelplasticvrij.nl/. This organisation is well on its way to making Texel plastic-free and also organizes cool plastic master classes.
On the mainland, near the beaches of Haarlem, Zandvoort and Bloemendaal, there is https://www.juttersgeluk.nl/. They also sell beautiful circular products
