THE PLACE YOU’RE PROTECTING
With your choice of Clean Waves Archetype 1 sunglasses in our ‘Deep Space’ colorway, you’re helping to protect the island of Araigathaa in the southern Maldives.
Meaning “the place that rose up” in the local Huvadhoo dialect, this is a tiny, round island about the size of a football field, where ocean currents pull white, powder-soft sand around its circumference in a dynamic, sweeping motion. The island is popular amongst locals from nearby Gemanafushi as a picnic spot, but is otherwise uninhabited.
ISLAND: ARAIGATHAA
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Distance from Malé: 405 km
Atoll: Gaafu Alifu
Island use: Uninhabited island
Area: 3.8 ha
Length x width: 340 x 150 m
Population: 0
A REMOTE WORLD
Araigathaa is part of the Gaafu Alifu Atoll – a sparkling ring of unspoiled islands in the south of the Maldives. Carried on the waves, plastic pollution from the open ocean washes up on the atoll's white sand beaches. Blown by the wind, this toxic debris accumulates along the treeline and inland – threatening these fragile island ecosystems and the people who depend on them.
PLASTIC IN THE MALDIVES
A string of coral atolls dotted across more than 35,000 square miles of open ocean, the Maldives is one of most unique places on Earth. More than a thousand individual islands stretch north to south across a vast area of the Indian Ocean, forming a double row of 26 atolls.
Above the waves, sparkling white beaches give way to tiny green jungles. Below the surface, thousands of species of fish, coral and other marine creatures thrive in the sunlit shallows. Each island is like a miniature world, and each one needs protecting.
The Maldives accumulate drifting plastic pollution from the Indian subcontinent, Africa, Asia and the wider world – and also from the small nation’s booming tourist industry. More than 1.3 million people visited last year – more than triple of the country’s population.
Intercepting marine plastic and reducing waste at source will be key steps in protecting this fragile ecosystem. The Maldives are remote, but there is no ‘away’
PARADISE PROTECTED
Your support directly funds the protection of this unique place in two ways. Working with Parley and our partners in the Maldives, you are making it possible to intercept plastic waste on Araigathaa and upcycle it. You're also supporting education and infrastructure projects to reduce plastic at source – an essential part of our mission in the atoll and beyond.
WELCOME TO THE MOVEMENT
Your sunglasses are just the beginning of the Clean Waves journey. Over the next year, we’ll take to you to Araigathaa through films, updates and live link-ups, and introduce you to the people working to protect these beautiful islands from plastic pollution.
You'll also gain access to a network of like-minded people from around the world, and be there every step of the way as Clean Waves grows. We have some exciting collaborations in the works, and can't wait to tell you more. It's great to have you onboard.
LATEST UPDATES FROM YOUR ISLAND:
We’ll keep you up to date on the progress we’re making on Araigathaa and other islands thanks to your support. Please check back in from time to time – we’ll also be sending you a newsletter every two months. Thank you for being part of the journey so far…