How far would you go to save the planet? For Sam Bencheghib, it’s running 4 800 kilometres from New York City to Los Angeles in shoes made from recycled plastic, and sailing along the Mississippi River on a boat made out of 800 discarded water bottles. Bencheghib orchestrates and records these feats to draw attention to environmental crises worldwide. “I truly believe that with a crazy idea, you can turn a lot of heads and create impactful change,” he says.
Bencheghib grew up on the island of Bali where, despite the images of pristine beaches that grace travel brochures, coastlines are littered with plastic. While surfing every day, trash surrounded his board. When he turned 12, Bencheghib and his two siblings organised local youth-led beach cleanups. They documented their activism and posted videos online to alert people about marine pollution. Their movement has since evolved into Make A Change World, an environmental organisation and media platform. “People would come up to me and think that plastic pollution wasn’t a worthy cause,” Bencheghib says. “That was difficult to hear but then I realised that that was why I was out there.”
In 2017, Bencheghib and the Make A Change team built a makeshift jukung from bamboo and plastic bottles to kayak along the Citarum River, infamously known as the most polluted river in the world. His videos reached the Indonesian government who made a public commitment to spend seven years cleaning the Citarum. The following summer, the team decided to not only highlight marine pollution but also celebrate the solutions implemented by Balinese people. Travelling in another recycled bamboo fishing boat, they visited various remote beaches to document divers establishing green zones and join other activists collecting microplastics in the ocean with specialised tools.
Over the years, Bencheghib and his brother also visited Gowanus canal and the Newtown creek, two of the United States’ most toxic waterways located in New York City. Raw sewage and oil has overflowed here for decades, but that didn’t deter them as they paddle boarded along the channels. While in Brooklyn, they created a series that champions local sustainable leaders, from a zero-waste minimalist designer to an artist transforming street trash into guitars and other instruments.
“It's important to share the stories of those doing amazing work and sharing the solutions to show what people can do to fight pollution,” Bencheghib says. Between his epic expeditions, he delivers presentations to schools and universities to further inspire action. “I think we can do great things with awareness and education,” Bencheghib says. “If I can convince one person to stop using plastic or change their consumption, that makes the whole thing worth it.”
Footage by Make A Change World was used in the creation of this film.
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