Clean Oceans Catch Up with Tangaroa Blue
- Keiran Healy
- 9 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Clean Oceans Catch-Up Series: Episode One with Heidi Tait, Tangaroa Blue
Watch the full interview below to learn how Tangaroa Blue is turning knowledge into action for a cleaner, healthier ocean.
Welcome to the Clean Oceans Catch-Up Series, where we sit down with partners from the Commonwealth Clean Oceans Plastics Campaign to spotlight the people and projects driving real action against plastic pollution across the Commonwealth.
Plastic pollution is one of the biggest threats facing our oceans today. With over 12 million tonnes of plastic entering the ocean each year, and microplastics now found in our food, water, and air, the need for collective, preventative action has never been greater. The Commonwealth Clean Oceans Plastics Campaign, alongside the King's Baton Relay, will stop one million pieces of plastic from entering Commonwealth waterways by July 2026, while inspiring long-term change in how we produce, use, and dispose of plastic.
For our first episode, Keiran Healy, Royal Commonwealth Society Regional Coordinator for Europe, is joined by Heidi Tait, Co-Founder and CEO of Tangaroa Blue Foundation, an Australian charity leading the charge on marine debris prevention and removal. Tangaroa Blue works with communities, industry, and governments to remove existing marine litter, stop plastic at its source, and drive data-led solutions through the Australian Marine Debris Initiative (AMDI), a national database that has helped remove and record more than 30 million debris items since 2004.
In this conversation, Heidi shares how data, community action, and evidence-based decision-making can protect ocean health, and why prevention is just as important as clean-up.
Read more about Tangaroa Blue here:
ABOUT THE CAMPAIGN
The Royal Commonwealth Society’s Commonwealth Clean Oceans Plastics Campaign will prevent one million pieces of plastic from entering Commonwealth waterways.
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The campaign will combine education and local action to encourage people to reduce their plastic waste, highlight alternatives, and reduce pollution across the Commonwealth.
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For the action component of the campaign, the Royal Commonwealth Society has partnered with Commonwealth Sport to deliver the Commonwealth Clean Oceans Plastics Campaign as a core component of The King’s Baton Relay. This newly envisioned King’s Baton Relay will focus on sustainability and environmentalism and was launched by His Majesty The King at Buckingham Palace on Commonwealth Day 2025, beginning a 500-day journey to the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in July 2026.
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Journeying through every Commonwealth nation and territory, this partnership will bring together young people, athletes, conservation groups, and the local community for a week of activities, including a plastic clean-up.
We want to thank Parley Maldives, National Olympic Committee Maldives and the Commonwealth Games for their contributions to cleaning up our Common Ocean.