Jade Bothma is an inspiring individual, from Cape Town. Her childhood has been characterised by growing up along the coast and learning to love and respect her surroundings. At just 15, Jade has already formed her own impact organisation - Oceano Reddentes. When Jade was 12 years old, she encountered the Netflix documentary 'Chasing Coral'. This documentary details and explores the bleaching of coral reefs in Australia. This sparked Jade's desire for change. However, there are no coral reefs in Cape Town to protect. Unperturbed, Jade has soldiered on and created her own meaningful and impactful local initiative that keeps our natural environments plastic free.
Speaking to Sealand, Miss Bothma said, "At the time, we were making ecobricks at my school. I researched more about these 'bricks' and decided that I was going to collect plastic off of the beaches and from our homes and put them into these ecobricks.
I then decided that I wanted a bigger use for these bricks, and I wanted to use them to build a house for a homeless person. That is how my organization Oceano Reddentes formed. Ever since then, I have been doing beach cleanups, collecting data, educating the youth on plastic pollution, and building structures with eco bricks and clay."
What makes you YOU in one sentence?
I am someone who cares about helping others and helping the environment. I love the ocean. I am very passionate, hardworking and determined.
How will your outlook on life improve the world?
My outlook in life is to not focus on the negatives in life and seethe glass half full rather than half empty. I acknowledge the problems with the world and instead of letting it upset me, I choose to use it as my motivation to try and help make the world a better place.
Links:
Instagram: @oceano.reddentes
Website: www.oceanoreddentes.org
Facebook: www.facebook.com/oceanoreddentes/
Twitter: @Oceanoreddentes