News and Community

Olivia Mandle, the young activist protecting marine animals

10 Jun 2022

Last June 8, coinciding with the World Oceans Daytook place in Aticco Bogatell a TEDxEixample talk with young environmental activist Olivia Mandle. At only 15 years old, Olivia has come up with aThe company has developed a tool to clean the sea of microplastics and has launched several citizen initiatives to protect dolphins in Spain.

Protecting Dolphins by Olivia Mandle

In 2020, and moved by the desire to protect marine animals, Olivia created a campaign on the Change.org platform asking the Barcelona City Council to transfer the three dolphins that were in captivity at the Barcelona Zoo to a Marine Sanctuary. During the talk organized by TEDxEixampleOlivia explained that dolphins are very sensitive to hearing, which is why they suffer a lot of stress in aquariums and zoos. Although her campaign reached 56,000 signatures, it did not get the desired results. The dolphins were transferred to another dolphinarium and not to a sanctuary as the initiative requested. Far from giving up, he launched a second, more ambitious campaign. As Mandle explained during the talk at Aticco:
»I never get discouraged, I know there are many people around me who also care about the same causes.»
In this second campaign, which already has more than 116,000 signatures, the young activist calls on the Government of Spain to pass a Law for the Programmed Prohibition of dolphinariums in Spain.  Dolphinariums are a The Spanish government's ecological transition will not be complete as long as these facilities are allowed to exist: "Spain wants to be a leader in ecological transition and is taking steps towards sustainability, but it cannot be so if it continues to allow these captivities", added the speaker.

The microplastics problem and the Jelly Cleaner as a small-scale solution

  In 2019, when she was very concerned about plastic pollution in the oceans, she designed a tool to remove microplastics from the sea. The so-called Jelly Cleaner, which looks like a jellyfish, filters this trash from the surface of the sea. With some old ballet tights and water bottles, she designed this tool that can be homemade from recycled materials.  In addition, Olivia, has the will to move other people and other children to support a more sustainable world. For this reason, she posted on her Youtube channel a video explaining how to create the Jelly Cleaner and how to use it.

Sustainability education

After her presentation, the activist was answering questions to the audience and the attending media as El Bien Social. She discussed with them how we can make this world a more sustainable place. For Olivia, the solution undoubtedly lies in education. For this reason, she emphasized the work they do in her school where all students are being trained in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) proposed by the UN. In this regard, Olivia argued that:
»My classmates are aware because at school we have been taught the importance of sustainability from a young age.
"In the corridors of our school there are the SDGs and we do projects where we have to apply the SDGs. This way, we become more aware and we know a lot more. Now when I tell them what I'm doing, we have a conversation and a reflection begins.", Olivia added.  You can learn more about their initiative #Noespaisparadelphins at change.org 

RELATED ITEMS