The oceans are at risk, marine plastic pollution is one of the biggest environmental issues in the world today. In fact, more than 150 million tons of plastic pollute the oceans today. Adidas, Runtastic and Parley-for-the-Oceans, have come together to raise awareness and contribute towards keeping the oceans clean.
14th June 2019, marked the ‘World Oceans Day’, a day Adidas Parley carried out its global movement ‘Run for the Oceans’, an initiative introduced to tackle our world’s marine plastic pollution problem and make a difference all across the globe. This year ODEL Sports did its part to raise awareness of plastic pollution in the ocean and beaches, by organizing the “Run for the Ocean” campaign for the first time in Sri Lanka, on World Ocean Day, at the Mount beach.
ODEL Sports together with its staff, ambassadors and Sri Lanka Rugby captain Omalka Gunarathna, hit the Mount Lavinia beach and began their mission with a 3km run along the shores – cleaning up, spreading awareness and making a difference in the local beaches.
Sri Lanka is currently ranked 90th in the list of the most polluted beaches in the world, with an area of 2012Kms of total pollution. Whilst ODEL Sports works on stripping Sri Lanka off that list, Adidas Parley hopes to minimize the damage caused by the 8.4million Km’s of polluted beaches across the globe.
Adidas will donate $1 for every kilometer run, capped at 1.5 million US dollars. The money raised will support the Parley Ocean School Initiative in the Maldives. The initiative is an environmental education program which educates and empowers kids to become the next generation of Ocean Guardians through immersive experiences in the environment we should all be fighting to protect. With a wide variety of activities in and on the waters, the program introduces youth to the underwater world and teaches them about the impacts of marine plastic pollution.
“In a world that’s always changing, remember, that the cure for anything is salt water – sweat, tears, or the sea.”
