Has five years made a difference?

"From the bottom of your bellies, make some noise!" Michelle Mouillé urges volunteers at the end of every beach cleanup she organizes. An emphatic chorus of “Save Our Oceans” typically erupts after this plea.

- Todd Miller

These community clean-ups are a primary activity of the Sustainable Maikhao Foundation (SMF), which Michaelle founded in 2020. What started as a passion in the pandemic has morphed into a multi-prong and multi-party mission to help protect Phuket's most valuable natural resource.

"Even though we can't clean everything," Michelle tells the volunteer groups, "the rubbish we collect in a typical cleanup can save a turtle, who could go on to lay 100 to 200 eggs."

She then asks: "Did we make a difference?"

Tonnes of trash

This month, for the 300th time on beaches across greater Phuket, volunteer groups will shout "Save Our Oceans."

These cumulative clean-ups over the past five years have removed more than 25 tonnes of rubbish from Phuket's legendary beaches. This trash is sorted into 16 categories, weighed, recorded and photographed. About one-third of the garbage can be reused, recycled or upcycled into useful products. Other debris goes into the incinerator or the landfill.

Also this month, which coincides with World Oceans Day (June 8) and World Environment Day (June 5), the SMF celebrates its fifth year of promoting environmental awareness, education and action on the island. On the eve of SMF's anniversary, I sat down with Michelle over foamy cappuccinos to understand the Foundation's priorities over the next five years.

Creating dedicated and full-time beach cleaning teams during the monsoon season is at the top of her expansive, colour-coded to-do list.