West Coast culture - Recycle with OMHU
Since 2020, the recycling company omhu: has been an innovative frontrunner, creative idea developer, and international inspiration for the collection of marine waste with a focus on creating products from stranded plastic and old fish boxes in a former fish factory in Hvide Sande.
Omhu: in Hvide Sande is a gathering point that now also houses a cosy café built from used pallets and driftwood from the beach. Omhu: was created by surfers Katrine Koch Frandsen and Daniel Sano Mirecki, who have chosen the Danish west coast as their home and are driven by a passion for the North Sea and the strong people who for generations have created and shaped a very special North Sea culture.
"My family and I moved from Copenhagen in 2019 to make room for a less hectic life and time to enjoy the beach and sea with our children. So for me, the culture of the North Sea is definitely the sea and the beach. But also communities and a cohesive local community. And this is where care comes in: the kit that fulfils my needs and wishes," says German-born Daniel Sano Mirecki, who worked for Maersk in Copenhagen for a number of years.
Photo:Jeppe Kirk
What we really want to do is educate people about marine plastic and why it's important to keep our beaches clean - even if it's just a small part of a bigger solution that we're all working towards. We want to motivate people to make a difference - whether you pick up a piece of rubbish on the beach or go crazy and pick up tonnes, it's not that important - it's much more important to high-five the rubbish you've collected rather than pointing to all the rubbish that's still out there.
Katrine Koch Frandsen har i flere år involveret sig i en masse lokalt arbejde i Hvide Sande og projektleder af den internationale vandsportsfestival Waterz. Dels for at give noget meningsfyldt tilbage til lokalsamfundet, men også fordi begge ildsjæle helt enkelt synes det er et fedt og personligt tilfredsstillende projekt.
We also want to build a community around collecting and make it edible and fun to join in, so we organise trips for tourists and those who want to show up. Every Wednesday during the summer holidays we have a beach clean and it's not just a beach clean - it's also an informative journey about what's on the beach and what we can all do.
Photo:Flying October
FACTS
Omhu: has collected over 27 tonnes of marine litter since its inception in 2020 and has developed a huge network of citizen and tourist volunteers who clean beaches every week during the summer holidays, and school students who both collect litter and are taught about marine litter and recycling. The company is widely used as a national PR pilot project in upcycling/recycling of waste plastics and regenerative tourism development with a focus on always leaving a better nature than the one you encounter.
Mere Vestkystkultur
Hvad er Vestkystkulturen? Det er stedbundne, lokale oplevelser, som er værd at køre efter. En uniqueness og drivkraft, som bunder i de givne forhold og ambitionen om at skabe noget ”herude vestpå”. I serien herunder er det lokale, der sætter ord på, hvad vestkystkulturen er for dem. Du kommer både tættere på dem og alt det, der gør Vesterhavet og vores område til noget helt særligt.
”Don’t be a tourist. Be an explorist.”
