Our cause in detail
The world ocean is the biggest contributor to life on Earth. It is where everything has begun and will go back into, in one form or another. The Black Sea is a small piece of the Blue Planet, but a big part of our life.
Three tons of plastic are entering the Black Sea on a daily basis from land and the in-flowing rivers. A study, conducted in August 2017 by the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and the Laboratory for Marine Ecology, concluded that the Black Sea is just as polluted with micro plastics as every other ocean. 90% of the total solid waste in the Black Sea are industrial polymer products.
The study showed that the largest amount of waste in the Black Sea area between Cape Kaliakra and the city of Burgas, are plastic particles larger than 2.5 cm - mainly fishing nets, plastic bottles, packages, sacks and plastic bags.
Marine ecologists Dimitar Berov and Stefania Klein conducted their research during Greenpeace’s “Free of Plastic” campaign, on board the Rainbow Warrior vessel. This is one of the few partial monitorings done on the Black Sea waters.
More research is needed to understand the overall condition of the water and work towards solutions.
What we will do
- During the WIND2WIN Challenge, in the assisting boats, there will be a team of a marine ecologist and a marine biologist - Dimitar Berov and Velizara Stoilova. They will collect water samples, do visual monitoring for marine litter and make marine mammal observation throughout the 300 km route along the whole Eastern Bulgarian Black Sea border. The new data will be added to help establish the ecological status of the Black Sea.
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Filming a documentary to follow the WIND2WIN Challenge and the PLASTIC FREE BLACK SEA cause. The film is our attempt to raise awareness of the increasing plastic pollution and to inspire the young generation to switch to a more environmentally conscious life. The documentary is a powerful way to reach more people by exposing the issue on world and national film festivals and TV channels.
Who we are - the WIND2WIN team
Iliyana Stoilova - former Bulgarian windsurf competitor and national champion among women. She started surfing at the age of 6 and years later began competitive training.
Yoan Kolev - former Olympic contestant and a Balkan champion in windsurfing class RS:X racing. He started his professional sports career at the age of 10.
Dimitar Berov - marine ecologist working at the Laboratory of Marine Ecology at IBER-BAS. For ten years he has been studying the Black Sea ecosystems along the Bulgarian coast.
Velizara Stoilova - marine biologist who has a Master degree in Animal Behavior at Queens University, Belfast. She has worked on numerous projects exploring whale and dolphin behavior.
Remove Remove Productions - a film production company, based in Sofia, Bulgaria. Super passionate about filmmaking and creating astonishing audio-visual products. They get inspired by nature, awesome people and causes.
Yavor Kolev - the captain of the crew and will be in charge of the main safety vessel during the WIND2WIN Challenge. Sailor with many years of experience, former sailing national coach, leading coach of the Bulgarian sailing Olympic team.
Akasha Surf School - the main organizer of the 300 km maritime challenge. Akasha Surf started in 2014 on the Black Sea shore, in order to promote all water sports in Bulgaria. The teachers in the different disciplines are athletes and professionals with many years of practice.
Surfrider Foundation Sofia - part of the international non-governmental organization Surfrider Foundation Europe. Their activities are dedicated to the protection of oceans, seas, beaches, and people who love them.
Maya Ivanova - WIND2WIN's graphic designer. Captured by the magic of flying, she is a passionate paragliding pilot. A Master student of the Polytechnic University in Milan – specialty Product Service System Design program.
What we need
Making the Black Sea cleaner is not an easy task and is connected with a lot of expenses and a huge team of professionals. We've already gathered a super-crew, but we still lack enough resources to complete our goals.
Any donations gathered through our Indiegogo campaign will be dedicated to filmmaking, organizing and doing the WIND2WIN Challenge and the study along the coast.
The key points that would require funding in this project are:
- Getting high-quality filming equipment, water-safety camera gear and covering post-production costs - 45%;
- Other expenses, such as: sports and safety equipment, fuel for boats, food, accommodation, etc. - 30%;
- Covering expenses for conducting the water study - 20%
- Expenses for the beach cleaning event- 5%.
A documentary film is a pretty powerful way to raise awareness of the issue and to promote a more sustainable lifestyle. We want to spread the WIND2WIN movie and its cause across local and foreign film festivals, TV channels and online.
Your contribution to the cause will help kick out the plastics off the oceans and the seas!
A PLASTIC FREE BLACK SEA is possible and it's up to all of us.
Other ways you can help
If you are unable to make a donation, just sharing this message will be truly smashing!
Now, let's get to the beach!
Partners
Official website: http://wind2win.com/
Facebook: @wind2win
Instagram: wind2win_challenge
Twitter: @wind2w