WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en 00:00:07.160 --> 00:00:09.751 [Chris] I literally woke up my wife, middle of the night, which is not uncommon. 00:00:09.751 --> 00:00:10.751 [Laura] Right. 00:00:10.751 --> 00:00:13.990 [Chris] And I just said hey I'm I got this idea you know I think somebody should do this. 00:00:13.990 --> 00:00:19.220 What if we did this, you know, what if doing something was better than doing nothing? 00:00:20.180 --> 00:00:22.840 So my name is Chris Moriarity and this is my wife Laura and we were 00:00:22.840 --> 00:00:25.060 actually the founders of the Million Waves Project. 00:00:31.220 --> 00:00:34.780 [Jacqueline] We are so fortunate to be here at Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, 00:00:34.780 --> 00:00:39.580 which is one of the most beautiful and diverse areas in the world. 00:00:40.400 --> 00:00:42.620 We have the smallest little animals in the world like plankton 00:00:42.620 --> 00:00:44.820 that are abundant off our coast, 00:00:44.820 --> 00:00:46.280 which brings in some of the largest animals 00:00:46.280 --> 00:00:48.672 like humpback whales and blue whales. 00:00:48.672 --> 00:00:50.180 And they all come here to feed, 00:00:50.180 --> 00:00:52.660 which is why getting the plastics out of the ocean 00:00:52.660 --> 00:00:54.480 and off the beach is so important. 00:00:54.480 --> 00:00:56.100 If the plastics stay out there 00:00:56.100 --> 00:00:59.400 then it could lead to their death, it could lead to their entanglement 00:00:59.400 --> 00:01:00.760 so we just want to make sure 00:01:00.760 --> 00:01:04.280 that we keep this place as special and as natural as possible. 00:01:07.520 --> 00:01:11.080 [Jonathan] With Million Waves Project, our plan is to try to 00:01:11.090 --> 00:01:13.740 reclaim as much ocean plastic as possible, 00:01:13.740 --> 00:01:16.160 and then we actually convert that ocean plastic 00:01:16.160 --> 00:01:18.480 into filament for 3D printers 00:01:18.480 --> 00:01:21.700 and then we use those 3D printers to print limbs. 00:01:22.380 --> 00:01:24.180 Kind of taking two different concepts, 00:01:24.180 --> 00:01:27.920 bringing them together to solve two problems at once. 00:01:27.920 --> 00:01:31.800 We're obviously not the first people who thought about cleaning up the oceans and 00:01:31.810 --> 00:01:36.670 we're not the first people who thought about making limbs cheaply for kids and adults who 00:01:36.670 --> 00:01:39.660 need them, but pretty much one of the first groups to 00:01:39.660 --> 00:01:42.760 decide to actually bring those two ideas together to 00:01:42.760 --> 00:01:46.000 try to do as much good as possible. 00:01:54.780 --> 00:01:57.060 Abbey is a wonderful little girl. 00:01:57.060 --> 00:01:59.140 She was born with a congenital deformity, 00:01:59.140 --> 00:02:02.000 so she doesn't have function of her right hand, 00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:06.200 but is very capable and it is amazing what she can do. 00:02:06.200 --> 00:02:09.720 [Abbey] I'm really crazy and I'm like jumping around 00:02:09.720 --> 00:02:15.670 and climbing trees and I like doing gymnastics and like flipping around. 00:02:15.670 --> 00:02:20.920 I really like to go to the beach and go swimming, doing flips off docks. 00:02:21.780 --> 00:02:23.500 [Chris] You know, everyone's kind of got dealing with 00:02:23.500 --> 00:02:25.420 their own issues and some children like the attention, 00:02:25.420 --> 00:02:26.480 some certainly do not. 00:02:26.480 --> 00:02:29.300 The last thing they want to talk about is maybe why they're different 00:02:29.300 --> 00:02:32.980 and Abbey, if you spent any time with her, she could care less. 00:02:32.980 --> 00:02:36.060 She's just living her life and doing things and it motivates me. 00:02:36.060 --> 00:02:40.470 [Abbey] If I were to make the prosthetic do anything, 00:02:40.470 --> 00:02:46.940 maybe to like hang onto something where it wouldn't come off without it like breaking. 00:02:47.360 --> 00:02:49.420 [Laura] She's really helped inform the projects. 00:02:49.420 --> 00:02:52.300 She tries things on, she tells us if they're cool or not cool, 00:02:52.300 --> 00:02:54.040 if they fit, if they don't fit. 00:02:54.040 --> 00:02:57.040 So it's been phenomenal, and her mom is amazing and 00:02:57.040 --> 00:02:59.740 has been also kind of informing you know the directions 00:02:59.740 --> 00:03:04.660 that we should go and how to navigate the population of limb-different kids. 00:03:05.180 --> 00:03:09.710 [Melissa] Ever since Abbey was born we never treated her different. 00:03:09.710 --> 00:03:13.430 Her family, everybody, just looked at her like a normal kid with two hands. 00:03:13.430 --> 00:03:16.560 And she's a very strong independent child, 00:03:16.560 --> 00:03:19.260 and so she just grew up thinking "I can do everything." 00:03:19.260 --> 00:03:23.060 And it's her personality to really conquer everything she does. 00:03:23.060 --> 00:03:24.620 She wants to be the best. 00:03:24.620 --> 00:03:29.200 She's really taught us so much about being courageous and being brave. 00:03:30.120 --> 00:03:35.620 Our family loves to go to the ocean and now being part of Million Waves, 00:03:35.620 --> 00:03:38.640 every time we're at the ocean and we see garbage in the water the kids want 00:03:38.640 --> 00:03:41.970 to get it out and it's been it's been really cool how that's 00:03:41.970 --> 00:03:43.819 impacted them. 00:03:43.819 --> 00:03:46.310 [Chris] The part of the project that I've enjoyed the most 00:03:46.310 --> 00:03:49.690 is probably for every person that reaches out to us for help 00:03:49.690 --> 00:03:52.290 we probably get at least at least a dozen people 00:03:52.290 --> 00:03:53.980 asking how they can help. 00:03:53.980 --> 00:03:57.080 So we kind of have this best side of humanity on display 00:03:57.080 --> 00:03:58.200 for us every day. 00:03:58.200 --> 00:04:01.459 And of course events like this and partnerships like this 00:04:01.460 --> 00:04:03.640 it brings it all right in front of you. 00:04:04.560 --> 00:04:06.180 I think the sanctuary system to us 00:04:06.180 --> 00:04:08.870 is probably going to be our number one vehicle 00:04:08.870 --> 00:04:11.120 to where when all the people ask us what they can do, 00:04:11.120 --> 00:04:12.900 that's the first place they can go. 00:04:12.900 --> 00:04:16.350 Because given the fact that there's so many and there's such a variety of different places 00:04:16.350 --> 00:04:18.720 that they're protecting and all the ecology around it, 00:04:18.720 --> 00:04:20.820 people want to do something a little bit more active. 00:04:20.820 --> 00:04:24.080 So having the sanctuary systems available and so well-run as they are, 00:04:24.080 --> 00:04:25.730 it's easy for people to get involved 00:04:25.730 --> 00:04:29.940 and go out and put an event together and again just make their dent. 00:04:32.780 --> 00:04:35.280 [Laura] Right now we're really focusing on events like this 00:04:35.280 --> 00:04:41.120 and coordinating with volunteers that are already out on the beaches pulling the refuse off. 00:04:41.380 --> 00:04:45.460 We really want to stick to our core mission of using reclaimed ocean plastics. 00:04:45.460 --> 00:04:48.100 So we are in partnership with the Washington CoastSavers 00:04:48.100 --> 00:04:52.440 and the sanctuary system to potentially you know kind of streamline a system 00:04:52.440 --> 00:04:54.870 to where we're collecting things that they're picking up 00:04:54.870 --> 00:04:56.270 that we can use. 00:04:56.270 --> 00:05:00.860 [James] Washington CoastSavers is a nonprofit formed by many community groups who are 00:05:00.860 --> 00:05:07.140 dedicated to protecting the coastline and getting marine debris off of the shorelines. 00:05:07.140 --> 00:05:10.300 We're all connected by the currents so we have to make sure we do the right thing 00:05:10.300 --> 00:05:13.130 and try to clean up the beaches as best as possible. 00:05:13.130 --> 00:05:16.250 [Jacqueline] It's stories like this that really make a difference to me 00:05:16.250 --> 00:05:19.240 because we get to see how we can make a difference 00:05:19.240 --> 00:05:21.700 and we still have hope and that we can do things 00:05:21.700 --> 00:05:24.700 that's not only good for the environment but good for people. 00:05:24.720 --> 00:05:26.740 I'm very proud to be part of this. 00:05:26.750 --> 00:05:32.320 [Abbey] Being involved with Million Waves changed me by 00:05:32.320 --> 00:05:39.220 I never thought I would need a prosthetic, but once I got started with this I realized 00:05:39.220 --> 00:05:41.530 that it was really cool to have one. 00:05:41.530 --> 00:05:46.180 They're just picking up plastic and then they can turn it into 00:05:46.180 --> 00:05:49.500 something that could help somebody.