July 18, 2018
This is Nurdle in the Rough: Jewelry From Found Plastic Wastes
Kat Crabil's Nurdle in the Rough Jewelry combines her love of protecting the oceans and jewelry making. All of her jewelry is handmade in Hawaii from ocean plastic and recycled sterling silver. Each piece will go on to spark conversation about ocean conservation. The plastic is removed from the coastlines will never become food for marine life, wash back to sea, or break up into smaller and smaller pieces. Instead of taking up space in our island landfill, the plastic is transformed into beautiful gems that will be cherished forever. 10% of my profits is donated to Hawaii Wildlife Fund, a small-but-mighty local nonprofit that has removed over 400,000 pounds of ocean plastic from Hawaii's coastlines over the past 20 years.
“The plastics are taken from the Kau coastline along the southeastern area of the island. Kamilo beach often, which is one of the beaches that is hardest hit by plastic pollution.”
Kamilo beach is a remote, four wheel drive access only beach, it takes about two hours to get there from my studio. Part of the drive is through a treacherous lava field.
Due to heavy storm surge, strong currents and constant wind, Kamilo is a collection place for oceanic debris. Ancient Hawaiians would search Kamilo’s shores for logs for canoes and sometimes for those lost at sea. In addition to wood and natural debris, Kamilo now receives approximately 15-20 tons of plastic debris from ocean currents annually.
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Pounds of debris removed since 2013
Nurdle in the Rough (NIR) has been participating in community and solo beach cleanups since June 2013. Below you’ll find a list of cleanups attended and approximate totals of debris removed from cleanup efforts. The statistics for Hawaii Wildlife Fund* cleanups have been provided by the organization and are used with permission.
NIR Participation in Debris Removal via Community and Solo Cleanups Totals an Estimated 28,355 lbs
